Mayor Rama mulls ‘second chance’ for Las Vegas bar

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is faced with a choice of tax revenue or moral-legal standards of doing business.

He could reconsider his one-year closure of a KTV bar because of the economic activity it brings to the city.

Or he could stand by the censure of the anti-indecency board that said the bar continued to present female strippers, despite previous warnings.

Rama yesterday said he was willing to discuss an appeal for a second chance with owners of Las Vegas KTV music lounge, but no representative has approached him yet.

“The mayor is reasonable,” Rama said.

He added that while he wants the city’s anti-indecency ordinance enforced, he didn’t want “to be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.”

Rama said he is willing to hear the bar owner’s side and that he is aware that taxes, especially those paid by businesses enterprise, “are the lifeblood of the city.”

The bar’s legal counsel, Inocencio dela Cerna, in an earlier interview, said his client was ready to pay a P100,000 bond to support their appeal to be allowed to operate again with an assurance that no violation would be repeated.

The two-year-old bar at the North Reclamation Area was padlocked five days before Christmas. About 100 workers found themselves out of jobs.

Mayor Rama signed the order based on the recommendation of the Cebu City Anti-Indecency Board (CCAIB), which had called the attention of the bar’s management about the nude dancing in the premises only to see the activity repeated.

CCAIB agents witnessed nude dancers entertaining clients in the bar on at least two visits.

A copy of the surveilance report obtained by Cebu Daily News said that female entertainers of the Las Vegas KTV music lounge would go on stage in skimpy undergarments which they slowly took off until they were naked.

The CCAIB report said the dancers also do “acrobatics” on stage by spreading their legs while they dance or sitting on the lap of customers, mostly Koreans, while they call out for more beer or ladies drinks to be served.

“I do not know the reactions of my two partners but on my part, I felt I was in a place that is worth padlocking soonest. It is a place of people without any little fear of losing their souls to the devil,” said the surveillance report dated July 15, 2013 sent to CCAIB head Lucelle Mercado.

CDN secured a copy of the report with permission from the CCAIB office.

Earlier, the bar’s lawyer insisted that there was only one instance when a female dancer went out of bounds. He said the dancer was fired, and the manager was suspended.

Dela Cerna also protested that the one-year closure by City Hall was “harasssment” and done without proof or due process.

SURVEILLANCE

CCAIB records show that their undercover agents visited Las Vegas KTV bar at least two times – July 9 and November 1 – for surveillance.

The July 9 visit at about 10:30 p.m. said CCAIB agents were ushered to a sofa at the far corner of the music lounge’s main area.

A woman in shorts and bra went on stage and danced “with a snake like motion” then stripped off her clothes at the end before leaving the stage.

Three other dancers wearing a thin piece of cloth went table hopping and sat on the lap of customers as they brought their breasts close to the men’s faces while they ordered beer or ladies alcoholic drinks at P600 per glass.

In the November 1 visit, the CCAIB surveillance team said they paid a P200 entrance fee and noticed the presence of locked private rooms in a corner of the music lounge.

“There is a great chance for something fishy inside the private rooms disguised as KTV rooms because it can easily be locked/blocked from outside entry or view,” the surveillance report said.