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.