On Cebu's Sex Tourism

"Boss, chicks," a man, with a wry smile, called the attention of Tutubi while walking early evening near Fuente Osmena in Cebu. It was Tutubi's first time in the city and encountered pimps at least twice during his stay. It was the same Cebu he encountered in his second and third sojourns in the big city.

The fourth time, on his second night in Cebu, his officemates wanted to visit a karaoke bar at the lower ground floor of Waterfront Hotel called Club Nyx KTV and Bar. Three of his senior companions entered the bar while Tutubi and his friends were taking pictures of the hotel's facade. When Tutubi and his friends looked for their companions who went ahead, the guard of Club Nyx asked them if they're from the media possibly due to the DSLR camera strung on his shoulder. They were able to enter and locate their "missing" peers, later emptied San Mig Light and belted quite a number of songs when an un-ordered parade of girls entered the room together with an older woman, who later identified herself as the Mama-san, who narrated she used to work at a certain Lighthouse on Timog in Quezon City when she was poached by the Korean owner of Club Nyx.

On the offer to get a girl to accompany them, even to "take out," the group plainly said "thanks, but no thanks" to the offer and the girls left the room. Letting even one of those girls in small chat requires ordering expensive ladies drinks at regular intervals and for "take out" would have to cough up bar fines, sometimes called "leaving fines," according to a patron of such places (who knows even the prices of various bars he frequents), are the payment a customer pays the bar owners for "taking out" their employees, euphemistically called GROs, short for guest relations officers.

Ad of Egypt bar and International Bar Complex on the inside back cover of the free Cebu visitor's guide at Mactan Cebu International Airport with pictures of Filipinas

Cebu tourism is also a booming industry but the dark side of this is highly evident with a booming flesh trade with the mushrooming of girlie bars masquerading as KTV, clubs, bars (sans the long table), GROs moonlighting as prostitutes and even streetwalkers looking for quick cash. This was confirmed by this report by Cebu Daily News recently.

Even the lone Cebu Tourism channel TV banners rotating ads of Club Temptation, Club Mermaid in Lapu-lapu City, Club Tokyo with interludes of advertisements of Ocean Bay Beach Resort while free travel guide on Cebu at the exit of Mactan-Cebu International airport advertises Grand Stage Bikini Bar, Tarzan Gay Bar, Club Circus, Cities, Club H20, Nasa, Club Jaguar Bar & KTV, International Bar Complex, Love City Bar & KTV, Gold Finger Bar & KTV, Cocoloco, Golden Calesa Club Circuit KTV, Infinity KTV & Music Lounge.

Tutubi doesn't advocate sex tourism, which he jokingly refers to as Air Force One tourism, referring to some people he knows who take visitors to the popular hangout near Manila's Airport. He respects the opposite sex and prefers not to have the same image as Thailand's famous Pat Pong district in Bangkok and instead strive for genuine and sustainable tourism development of which the country, not only Cebu, has a big potential.

Prostitution is illegal in the Philippines but it's practice is an open secret in other places like Angeles City, Quezon Avenue in Quezon City, Burgos St. in Makati among other tourist destinations.

What Tutubi can say about Cebu is that there are lots of "eye candies," in one place-- mga guwapa gyud mga Cebuana! :P