Probe on Aussie trade in paedophilia sought

Probe on Aussie trade in paedophilia sought

MANILA (Reuter): An Australian state legislator yesterday
sought an investigation into what she said was the increasing
involvement of Australians in prostitution and possibly
paedophilia in the Philippines.

Meredith Burgmann, member of the legislative council of New
South Wales, told a news conference she would ask her government
to check activities of Australian men suspected of trafficking in
prostitution in the Philippines.

"We note with grave concern the alarming trend of Australian
men's involvement in sex tourism, trafficking of women and
prostitution through package tours," said a statement at the end
of a 15-day study-tour by a group of Australians and Filipinos.

The group, which visited selected areas in Luzon, said a large
number of hotels and bars, believed to be fronts for
prostitution, were owned and managed by Australians but were
registered under the names of Filipinos.

They said Angeles City, once famous for its honky-tonk bars
but largely deserted after the closure of the nearby U.S. Clark
Air Force Base, was again alive with bars and other mushrooming
entertainment joints.

Aida Santos, a member of the study-tour, said it gathered that
42 percent of the hotels in Angeles and 26 percent of bars in the
city were owned or managed by Australians.