The provincial Philippine National Police based at Camp Fernandez, Sibulan town in Oriental Negros has named the southern town of Dauin, 14 kilometers from Dumaguete City as the sex trafficking destination in the province.

The tiny municipality is the site of the Apo Island marine sanctuary, an internationally-known diving site and home to a number of beach resorts.

Chief Inspector Rosalinda Abellon, head of the Women and Children's Concerns Desk of the PNP provincial office, said Dauin has been branded a sex trafficking destination for having the highest number of recorded rape cases last year.

Abellon added that the subjects or suspects named in the complaints were mostly foreigners.

She said the rising number of sexual abuse complaints had been a consequence of the influx of foreigners in the town, most of whom are married to Filipinos and permanent residents.

The rising number, she said, also resulted in the increased number of pimps, several of whom are reportedly encouraging their family members to sleep with some foreign visitors.

Other foreigners bring commercial sex workers with them to Dauin, Abellon said.*

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