SOON enough, a former partylist congressman closely identified with Vice President Sara Duterte would be made to live inside a facility that is so much bigger than his Quezon City mansion.
This comes as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed human trafficking charges against former Anakalusugan partylist Rep. Mike Defensor for allegedly operating a prostitution den in Pasig City.
According to NBI Director Melvin Matibag, the human trafficking complaint against Defensor is in connection with a KTV bar in Pasig City that was previously raided over alleged sexual exploitation involving dozens of women.
The complaint was filed before the Pasig City Prosecutor’s Office.
Matibag said evidence gathered by investigators indicated Defensor’s alleged involvement in the operations of the KTV bar, adding that authorities believe the former lawmaker is very much aware of his establishment’s trafficking activities.
“It appears Mike Defensor was indeed involved in this matter,” Matibag told newsmen.
Aside from the non-bailable offense, the NBI also found violations of the National Building Code based on the structure’s floor plan, adding that Defensor consented to structural modifications which effectively concealed trafficking activities through secret doors, hidden stairways, and private rooms.
Defensor has since denied the allegations which he aptly described as “politically motivated.”
The NBI earlier filed related charges against Defensor’s wife, Julie Rose Defensor, and their son, Miguel Gabriel Defensor, in connection with the same case. The former congressman’s daughter Michaella in her capacity as corporate director of CliffPoint Development Corp. is still under investigation (CDC).
In a media briefing earlier, Matibag explained that the case was based on evidence gathered during the April raid, including documents, corporate records and findings from the rescue operation involving more than 50 alleged victims.
Matibag presented photos and other evidence recovered from the establishment, including pregnancy test kits that he said were allegedly used to determine whether female workers had become pregnant.
The NBI also presented comments proving the Defensor family remains in control of the establishment through ownership interests and corporate positions.
Records from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that control of CDC was linked to Pax Libera Mining, which the NBI claimed as part of the family’s business empire.
Members of the Defensor family, Natubag added, held key positions in the companies, describing the arrangement as an “interlocking directorate” where ownership and management remained within the family.
“The form and structure may have changed, but control remained with the Defensor couple and their family,” he averred.
