Women's Commission urges probe on "lingam massage"

CEBU, Philippines- Concerned on how it would affect women working in massage parlors, the Cebu Provincial Women’s Commission (PWC) is urging Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes to investigate the existence and operation of lingam massage parlors in Mandaue City.

The Cebu Provincial Government had approved in 2005 Ordinance No.2005-18, which is the Women’s Development Code of Cebu Province. This ordinance seeks to uphold the rights, worth and dignity of women as human beings.

Provincial Board Member Agnes Magpale, chairperson of the committee on women, family and minors and co-chairperson of the PWC, said she received information that such a massage parlor is now operating in Mandaue City, specifically in Barangay Cambaro.

The women’s commission, in a press release, said that a fact-finding investigation would help the PWC to have “a full grasp” on what a lingam massage parlor is all about, and why it had stirred the attention and curiosity of many.

“It is therefore, that the Cebu PWC requests Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes to conduct a fact-finding investigation on the matter, and to impose appropriate sanctions if and when warranted,” read the press statement.

Lingam massage is specifically for men and touches on their private parts. Some describe this kind of massage as sexually provocative, but operators of a spa who claimed to be the first one offering lingam massage in Cebu insisted that it is not indecent.

Owners of Authentic Lingam Massage were reported as saying that just like other kinds of massage, lingam is still meant to soothe and relax. This technique involves stroking the male sexual organ, called “lingam ” in Sanskrit.

The Spa and Wellness Association of Cebu (SWAC) president had earlier expressed fears that the number of spas offering lingam massage would jeopardize the reputation of wholesome Cebu spas.

The owners of Authentic Lingam Masage, in an earlier news report, were quoted as saying that lingam massage is a widely accepted form of wellness massage all over the world. They, however, noted the sprouting of spas that claim to offer lingam although they doubt whether personnel of these new spas were trained properly.