As I blogged yesterday, I got several comments saying that Queeriosity Palace got raided for the second time. To clarify, QP has been under new management since early 2009 and this is the first time the bathhouse got raided since that time. Since I posted that article, I got several more comments and a couple more accounts of the raid from two of the victims.
Update: TLF Share, whose representative was at the precinct, has released a report on the raid.
I asked around and a source told me that the macho dancing show was already long done before the raid happened and that the dancers were not among those detained by the Pasay City Police. The GMANews.TV report saying that 10 “alleged male dancers” were arrested is therefore wrong and it was apparently based on the police logbook. This logbook entry was supposedly written by the police there to justify the raid.
Based on a source, it was obvious from the start that the police conducted the raid simply to extort money from the establishment and the patrons. For one thing, the Pasay City Police already knew what Queeriosity Palace is from the first raid. If the establishment is illegal, why do the raid only now and not before? Second, since the show was already long done when the police entered, there was no way they could justify the human trafficking charge since nothing that could conceivably be tied to prostitution can be seen at that time. Third, based on the accounts of the commenters and my source, the police were asking hundreds of thousands of pesos from the manager of QP and that the police took the cashier’s box and confiscated wallets and other valuables, even breaking the safety deposit boxes in the bathhouse where these were kept. Money is simply what these bastard police were after!
According to my source, among those who tried to help secure the release of the patrons were people from TLF Share Collective and Akbayan. A representative from Akbayan managed to tweet about the raid and their efforts to help the PLUs that night. Shown below are some of the tweets:
1:37 am: Another gay establishment got raided and we're in need of lawyers. If you're still up and willing to do pro-bono work, we need you. DM me.
4:06 am: 105 MSM got arrested. Police says they'll be charged for violating the anti-trafficking law.
7:51 am: was told by the police earlier, o, Akbayan kayo, e bakit kayo pumapasok sa kalaswaan. Di ba bawal yung chukchakan ng pareho lalaki?
8:01 am: The police took the money or the cellphones of the clients.They left nothing,not even fare money.Some asked for coins so they can go home.
The third tweet above and my source tells me that the police questioned those who were trying to help why they tolerated men having sex with other men and saying that it was “immoral” and “illegal.” (COMELEC, is that you?) Are the inept Pasay City Police trying to deflect the blame for their unjustified detention of PLUs? Have they even read the brilliant skewering done by the Supreme Court in proving that being gay and having gay sex is not illegal in this country?
As for the silence from the bathhouse management, I’ve been told that they could not release a full statement now since they are preparing various legal remedies with the help of some powerful people and that they do not want to preempt things. I hope that what they are doing will finally put a stop these stupid raids.
Paging President Aquino! You won on a campaign promise of ridding the government of corruption. Well, here’s a clear case of police extortion that happened in your backyard. Do you have the political will to prevent these kinds of things under your watch?
16 comments:
Since the gay community is divided when the existence of bathhouses come into discussion, it is very difficult for us to declare a universal condemnation.
Sad but this is how this episode may probably end.
whatever our take on the incident or the existence of bathhouses. Human rights violation is still human rights violation.
http://businessm2m.blogspot.com/2010/09/incident-at-q.html
this makes me mad. bat kasi nagbigay pa ng pera yung owners. sana may magsumbong kay erwin tulfo. galit si erwin tulfo sa mga abusadong pulis.
ingat mga kapatid. raid season pala! tsk! tsk!
ayan, malalandi kasi kayo, buti nga!
Kung may Abadilla 5 May Batasan 5 May Morong 43 . May bago na Queeriosity 10.....
bukas na naman ang queeriosity. Nakareceive ako ng text 100 pesos no time limit. Nagdadalawang isip kung pupunta pa ako after what happened last thursday night. Nagkaphobia na ako sa mga bathhouse.....
club bath pa rin ang matatag thorugh the years! never naraid. don na lang tayo lahat.
ingat na lang sa mga ganyan pangyayari....baka maulit uli sa Q....
Yet again, this is another example of police harassment and a clear violation of human rights.
Guys, BTW, the owner of Q has put out a statement regarding the incident.
Also, if you would like to help out with the legal aspects or if you are a victim of the raid and would like to come forward, please send an email to info@queeriosity.com
Also, I have a followup post:
Know your rights: What the police can or cannot do
any news dun sa legal actions daw ng Q? i bet wala naman mangyayari its been days and wala talagang nangyayari. sana di muna nagoperate ang Q right after the incident at sinigurado muna nila na safe na yung establishment nila. kawawa naman kasi yung mga tao na di alam ang nangyaring raid. sila din ang mapapahamak. please to the owner wag ganyan. pinapahamak mo na naman ang mga members nyo. to the owner: di laro ang ginagawa mo. di mo playgroud ang Q na nagiinvite ka ng mga gustong maglaro. i-ensure mo muna na safe ang lugar mo bago ka magoperate. ni wala pang 1 week bukas ka na agad. anong kayang posibleng mga safeguards and nailagay mo sa establishment mo para ma claim mo na safe place na ang Q. until such time na may clear kang masasabi kung anong mga safeguards ito sana wag ka na magoperate kasi pinapahamak mo lang ang mga bakla na pumupunta dyan. maglagay ka rin ng note sa may counter nyo na na raid kayo nung 28 para informed ang mga papasok para makadecide sila ng maayos kung ma-ta take nila ang risk na kapalit ng pagpasok sa establishment mo. para di ka nasisisi sa huli. i think mas ok na business practice yan kesa naman text ka parin ng text ng mga events sa mga members eh di lang kaming mga nakasama sa raid ang nakakabasa nun. please lang kasi ayokong mangyari sa iba yung naranasan ko nung madaling araw na yon. kung talagang good intentions ang purpose mo sana man lang at least note lang sa counter please para dun sa mga di nakakaalam. alam kong makakabawas yan ng sales pero its just the right thing to do.
to allan: syempre di mo kami maiiwan nung gabing yon kasi ikaw ang may pinaka malalang kaso dun kaya gustuhin mo mang umalis at mangiwan eh di mo magagawa. dont make such a big deal out of your stay sa prisinto kasi wala kang choice but to stay.
to Q: ang ending nito di naman pulis ang may kasalanan. ang may kasalanan eh ang management ng Q na walang kahit na anong plan to protect their customers (assumption ko lang naman to). eto mga suggestions ko to improve the situation at sana ma consider ng management para sa kapakanan ng members:
1. yung suggestion ko na may information about history ng Q sa counter. saying na merong 2 raids na nangyari para "informed decisions" ang magawa ng mga tutuloy pumasok. na they be accountable sa pagpunta nila dun pra di sila nagrereklamo sa Q gaya ng pagrereklamo ko ngayon.
2. sana may in-house lawyer kayo na pwedeng on-call in cases na ma raid ang Q. lawyer dapat ang nag nenegotiate and not just the bathhouse manager. kasi alam natin na wala sa job description nya yun at walang capacity ang ganyang tao to do negotiations sa pulis.
3. dapat may emergency exit na pwedeng lumabas. makakatulong din to pag may sunog.
4.dapat may standard operating policies and procedures kayo. dapat alam to ng manager mo. make sure trained sya to handle raids. na dapat manghingi sya ng warrant or any documents to support their entry sa Q.
5.dapat may contact na sa pulis. na magtitimbre kung may raid para mapauwi ng maaga ang mga members bago pa dumating ang mga pulis. (syempre may cost to sa inyo).lets face it. kung ang gusto nyo eh rights na accorded sa mga straight...years pa ang iintayin natin dyan. lets just be practical.
6. take legal action dun sa nangyari.
7. dapat may video camera sa entract to account yung mga nangyayari.
8. dapat mas gwapo ang mga macho dancers. yung show nung gabi ng raid, yung last na nagsasayaw lang ang panalo dun. the rest parang di naman kagwapuhan (talagang merong ganito)
9. sana din may body washer na mababayaran ng 100 per body wash bago ka umuwi kasi mas masarap pag pinaliguan ka diba.
10. sana i align sa market rate ang massage service. dito sa makati mr. owner 250 lang ang one hour massage and not 350.
sana kahit mahaba to eh makatulong ng konti.
salamat ang goodluck sating lahat.
anthony.
@Anon (Anthony),
I'll try to answer some of your points. These are just my opinions, BTW. I don't represent anyone but myself.
Legal procedures take time. And you really do not want to rush things if you want to have a watertight case. So please be patient if you're waiting for legal redress. I'm quite sure the owner of Q is doing everything he can regarding this.
Also, if the police decides to abuse their power, there's very little you can do to prevent it. You can put procedures in place to help deter such incidents but whatever you put can only come with the benefit of hindsight.
Somebody familiar with such raids has commented that this raid was probably the worst so even if you look to other raids in other similar establishments for guidance, it likely won't prepare you for the recent raid.
In the end, the bathhouse was operating as a legal and registered business and the Pasay City Government already knows what the nature of the business is and has left it untouched for more than 2 years now. So, I didn't think Q expected to be raided, unless the raid was illegal.
And that's it: the raid is illegal and abusive. And this raid is shocking coming from a law enforcement body. Yes, maybe Q should have anticipated this, but really, most of the blame should be placed on the Pasay City Police.
why? ano yung kinomment mo na tinanggal nya?
what truth are you talking about?
@Anon, I deleted his comment on another article. You can check out the conversation starting here. Essentially, anonyme posted some very nasty things about Allan (Q's manager) and the comment is libelous. I don't care if the accusations are true or not, but libel is libel and I had to delete it.
Update: TLF Share, whose representative was at the precinct, has released a report on the raid.
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