Duterte urged to sign bill protecting children from online abuse

MANILA — Even though President Duterte has only four days left in office, a senior administration lawmaker from the House of Representatives has urged the Chief Executive to sign the bill protecting children from internet abuse and sexual exploitation.

Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. LRay Villafuerte stressed the importance for the measure ratified last month by the Senate and House to be signed into law the soonest, specifically House Bill 10703, or the Anti-Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children, which the lower chamber approved overwhelmingly in February.

The bicameral conference committee report was ratified by both chambers.

“As sick as it may appear, as children stay at home due to quarantine restrictions, they are at risk to online sex trafficking and exploitation. The perpetrators, other than the usual pimps and child traffickers, are sometimes the parents of the victims themselves,” Villafuerte said.

HB 7947, which he filed in the 18th Congress, outlines his plan to impose tougher sanctions on internet service providers (ISPs) found to have willingly and knowingly permitted the use of their servers or facilities for child pornography.

“The internet should be a safe space for our children, especially now that we are more dependent on it for education. This bill seeks to provide more protection to our children and further increase its penalties over ISPs to further deter the commission of such crimes,” Villafuerte said.

He noted the “alarming” findings of the Department of Justice (DOJ), where its Office of Cybercrime (OOC) found a 264.6 percent increase in cases of Filipino children being sexually assaulted by pedophiles via the internet.

This is from March 1, 2020 to May 24, 2020, compared to the same time frame in 2019.

The bill ratified by Congress strengthens the protection for children by requiring internet intermediaries and other internet or payment service providers to take down or remove websites that stream illegal content of abuse of minors.

Stricter sanctions for individuals involved in cases of child abuse are also included, as is the establishment of the National Coordinating Center against online abuse and sexual exploitation of children.

The Inter-Agency Council against Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation will be established to implement the provisions of the act, including the development of a system of reporting and protocols in detecting, averting and prosecuting such crimes.

The measure requires the internet intermediaries and other internet or payment service providers to block, take down or remove websites that stream illegal content of abuse of minors.

Tingog party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, who is an author of the bill, meanwhile, said the pandemic has worsened the occurrences of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) with the loss of sources of livelihood and the surge of online activities of minors, among others.

“A study by the United Nations Children’s Fund showed that one in five Filipino children are vulnerable to OSEC, with boys found to be as vulnerable to sexual exploitation as girls,” Romualdez said.

“One in five children is one child too many,” she added.

In 2018, Romualdez received at least 600,000 child sexual abuse documents involving Filipino children.

“The true strength of our nation is seen in the smiles of children. The well-being, integrity and safety of our children is the most precious gift that we can give them,” she said.