Imported talent vs Pinays in ‘war of flesh’

Even the country’s sex trade is opening its doors to foreign talent.

Pickup girls of various nationalities have literally taken over the streets of Manila and Makati, plying their trade nightly on Ermita and P. Burgos and edging out their local counterparts in "a war of the flesh."

Reports reaching the Bureau of Immigration (BI) revealed the presence of unusually large numbers of Korean, Brazilian and Russian girls in their late teens who have suddenly descended on the turf of Filipina pickup girls.

Often dressed in micro-minis, the foreigners are described as "young, pretty and very sexy."

They offer sex to passing motorists, according to one Makati-based junior executive, who described his experience with one of the girls as "extremely satisfying."

The imported pickup girls start work at nine in the evening up to midnight. They can be seen standing on the streets of Ermita in Manila and P. Burgos in Makati displaying their "wares" and eyeing possible customers in cars.

Most of them use their local counterparts, whom they have edged out in the trade, as pimps. These pimps approach possible customers in cars and negotiate the price for their chosen partner.

They are then brought to a nearby hotel on Ermita or P. Burgos once they have agreed on the price.

Residents in nearby areas where the foreigners work, said the it was impossible for the authorities not to have knowledge of their activities.

"There are a lot of girls there and they attract a lot of attention," one Makati resident said.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo has ordered a surveillance of the foreign women, with instructions to round them up and deport them if caught offering sex to motorists.

Domingo also instructed immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to subject profiled foreign prostitutes to primary and secondary inspection and to refuse admission if they are found to be not legitimate tourists.

It was learned that some foreigners entered the country on tourist visas and left before their travel documents expired, only to return again after having "toured" other Asian countries.