Women’s group decries ‘abuse;’ Mayor Cortes starts probe

A women’s alliance in Cebu province has called for a crackdown on spas offering lingam massage.

They warned that if authorities don’t stop the spread of establishments offering this type of massage, women would be susceptible to abuse.

The Cebu Provincial Women's Commission (CPWC) identifed one lingam spa in Mandaue City whose female attendants allegedly had sex with male customers.

Lingam is a Sanskrit word for male genitals, the focus of this type of massage which is gaining popularity in Metro Cebu.

The Mandaue City government yesterday started an investigation on orders of Mayor Jonas Cortes.

City Administrator Briccio Boholst told CEBU DAILY NEWS that the spa in barangay Cambaro has a business permit and paid its tax dues for the first and second quarter of the year.

He said the establishment was given a permit to operate a massage spa when it opened last year. Lingam massage was not specified in the permit, he added.

Staff from Mandaue’s business inspection section visited the spa yesterday.

“We have yet to determine if they engage in lingam services,” said Boholst.

“The inspection will determine if their operations are consistent with the permit granted to them.”

If the spa offers services not specified in the business permit, he added, the owner could be fined or have his permit revoked.

If the need arises, Boholst said police will also be called to check the place.

In a June 11 resolution, the CPWC co-chaired by Provincial Board Member Agnes Magpale urged the Mandaue mayor to investigate the operation of lingam massage parlors in his city.

Gov. Gwen Garcia is chairman of the commission, which castigated actress Maui Taylor and Jennifer Lee for performing in a bikini show during Holy Week in Bantayan beach resort in 2008. The two celebrities later apologized in public and were made the province’s ambassadors for women’s rights.

Magpale told CEBU DAILY NEWS that spa centers which provide lingam massage services have been used as fronts for prostitution.

“There are rumors that there are spa centers which don't only offer linggam massage but other kinds of sexual services. Our values have deteriorated. We have been fighting for stricter implementation of laws and here comes these services,” said Magpale, who chairs the committees on women, children and family and on tourism at the Provincial Board.

In the resolution, the CPWC identified a lingam massage parlor in barangay Cambaro, Mandaue City and asked Mayor Cortes to investigate it and mete sanctions as needed, “especially that lingam massage had stirred the curiosity of women in the city.”

The CPWC said this kind of massage was sexually provocative if administered by a woman to a man.

Based on their Internet research, the CPWC said lingam was a “man's massage that produces a wide array of sensations that gives pleasure to men” by massaging, pressing, rubbing or stroking a man's pressure point and prostate gland trhough the rectal wall.

The CPWC resolution said such acts put the woman in a compromising and demeaning situation.

The PWC said this would violate the Provincial Ordinance No. 2005-18 or the Women Development Code of the Province of Cebu which states that “any person or agency who engages in shows depicting women as sex objects in private or in public place or under scandalous circumstance shall violate women ’s rights.”

Magpale said lingam massage was intended for “health reasons” but that she could not understand why sessions go beyond this purpose and lead to sexual encounters.

Although CPWH identified one spa in Cambaro, Magpale said she wanted the Mandaue City government to check out other establishments offering lingam massage.

Magpale said the Cambaro spa used to operate on F. Ramos Street in Cebu City but was forced to close due to lobbying by the Cebu City Anti-Indecency Program (CAIB) then headed by Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer.

The establishment merely transferred its operation to Mandaue.

In May, the commission decided to observe the Cambaro spa and found out that the spa’s female attendants also had sex with their male clients.

The result of the investigation prompted the CPWC to issue a resolution on June 11, calling the attention of Mayor Cortes.