Lawmakers blast Manila’s failure to crack down on paedophiles, cyberporn syndicates
Manila: Members of the Gabriela party-list on Saturday lambasted the government for its inability to crack down on child porn syndicates.
Gabriela is a party in the Philippines government advocating for women and children's rights.
“There is a glaring inability of the government agencies to stop paedophilia and cyber pornography,” a statement by Emmi de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan, Gabriela party-list representatives, said.
Gabriela’s statement was issued in the wake of reports that child pornography continued to thrive despite the passing of the Anti-Child Pornography Act in 2009.
The two lawmakers challenged police to paralyse the operations of syndicates engaged in cyber-pornography involving minors in many parts of the country.
De Jesus and Ilagan also filed House Resolution 453, which also called on the House Committees on the Welfare of Children and Women and Gender Equality to conduct an inquiry into the case of ‘Sweetie’, a 10-year old virtual Filipino girl created by Dutch-based children’s right group Terre Des Homes, to track down paedophiles in various countries.
Sweetie lured potential paedophiles into an online chat, where she offered to have virtual sex via video cam, with the unsuspecting paedophiles paying for the service using their credit cards.
De Jesus said that in the 10 weeks that the Sweetie sting operation had been operational, Terre Des Homes had reported some 20,000 people from 71 countries had approached Sweetie asking her to perform sexual acts.
Among those who tried to solicit Sweetie’s services are potential clients from the Philippines.
The Terres Des Homes operation was followed by reports published by AFP citing that a number of child sex operations had been streamed live from the village of Ibabao, Cordova town, Cebu.
The report revealed that the abuse of children had taken place with the consent of their parents, who also featured in the videos.
Aside from Cebu, De Jesus pointed to a recent study conducted by the National Statistics Coordination Board that most of the cyber pornography victims were from Manila, the Ilocos region, Central Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula.
She said that on the basis of the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, it is the state which has the responsibility to protect every child from all forms of exploitation and abuse, including the use of children in pornographic performances.
Earlier, the Presidential Palace warned parents who force their own children into engaging in cybersex that they would be brought to account.
Responding to a question during an interview on state-run radio station dzRB last week, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said laws to protect minors existed and added that parents who consent to their children being abused would be prosecuted.
Manila: Members of the Gabriela party-list on Saturday lambasted the government for its inability to crack down on child porn syndicates.
Gabriela is a party in the Philippines government advocating for women and children's rights.
“There is a glaring inability of the government agencies to stop paedophilia and cyber pornography,” a statement by Emmi de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan, Gabriela party-list representatives, said.
Gabriela’s statement was issued in the wake of reports that child pornography continued to thrive despite the passing of the Anti-Child Pornography Act in 2009.
The two lawmakers challenged police to paralyse the operations of syndicates engaged in cyber-pornography involving minors in many parts of the country.
 |
| Sweetie |
De Jesus and Ilagan also filed House Resolution 453, which also called on the House Committees on the Welfare of Children and Women and Gender Equality to conduct an inquiry into the case of ‘Sweetie’, a 10-year old virtual Filipino girl created by Dutch-based children’s right group Terre Des Homes, to track down paedophiles in various countries.
Sweetie lured potential paedophiles into an online chat, where she offered to have virtual sex via video cam, with the unsuspecting paedophiles paying for the service using their credit cards.
De Jesus said that in the 10 weeks that the Sweetie sting operation had been operational, Terre Des Homes had reported some 20,000 people from 71 countries had approached Sweetie asking her to perform sexual acts.
Among those who tried to solicit Sweetie’s services are potential clients from the Philippines.
The Terres Des Homes operation was followed by reports published by AFP citing that a number of child sex operations had been streamed live from the village of Ibabao, Cordova town, Cebu.
The report revealed that the abuse of children had taken place with the consent of their parents, who also featured in the videos.
Aside from Cebu, De Jesus pointed to a recent study conducted by the National Statistics Coordination Board that most of the cyber pornography victims were from Manila, the Ilocos region, Central Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula.
She said that on the basis of the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, it is the state which has the responsibility to protect every child from all forms of exploitation and abuse, including the use of children in pornographic performances.
Earlier, the Presidential Palace warned parents who force their own children into engaging in cybersex that they would be brought to account.
Responding to a question during an interview on state-run radio station dzRB last week, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said laws to protect minors existed and added that parents who consent to their children being abused would be prosecuted.
No comments:
Post a Comment