ACTING Gov. Diego T. Benavente will spearhead an “all out drive” against prostitution activities in Garapan beginning next week.
In an interview, Benavente, chairman of the government’s anti-prostitution task force, said he will lead law enforcement personnel in “visiting every single establishment” in the Garapan commercial district.
“Starting next week, we’ll be walking in the streets. I’m going to lead that walk with other enforcement personnel from every concerned agency, visiting every single establishment,” Benavente told Variety yesterday.
In particular, he said, government authorities will check out suspected prostitution dens in the area.
Benavente said the task force has been receiving complaints from various tourists and concerned individuals, including other business operators about the alleged prostitution activities in Garapan.
One upsetting activity, he said, is the open solicitation for customers on the streets.
“We won’t let them come out and harass the tourists,” he said.
Earlier, no less than Japanese Consul Takeo Saito reported that several Japanese tourists had complained about the customer solicitation in the streets.
Staff of certain massage and karaoke joints usually line up outside their buildings asking passersby, especially male Japanese tourists, to enter their establishments.
Some ladies go out to the street to run after customers and pull them in, reports reaching the task force said.
The government acknowledged that such activities have “scared” potential tourists.
The acting governor said the government’s planned visits will continue until the illegal activity in the area is solved.
“We’re going to do this until we run the prostitution out of the Garapan district. Eventually, we’ll get to other places,” he said.
Asked about the constitutionality of the campaign, he said the law allows the public to freely enter public establishments.
“Anybody can walk into every establishment,” he said.
He said he believes that the people involved in the flesh trade would eventually get tired of the presence of government authorities and leave the area.
