Pro-life solon wants penalties for production, sale of sex toys

A pro-life lawmaker filed Thursday a bill seeking to penalize the sale and production of sex toys in the country. Buhay party-list Rep. Irwin Tieng filed House Bill 4509 seeking to curb the supposed "influx" of these "obscene" devices, which he said may lead to the rise of sex-related crimes in the country. "The proliferation of these obscene devices which are insensitively and openly displayed in shops or stalls are very alarming. The public, especially minors, being exposed to these obscenities may suffer disturbing effects and could trigger sexually impure ideas," Tieng said in a statement Thursday. Under HB 4509, Tieng specified that the distribution or intent to distribute, sale or resale and production of these sex toys as "unlawful" acts. The lawmaker proposed penalties ranging from one-year imprisonment to a fine of P20,000 for violations of the provisions stated in the bill, if it becomes a law. The bill tasks the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Justice to implement the measure once it becomes a law. The measure has to undergo committee hearings and plenary debates and will have to be approved by a majority of all House members before it is passed by the lower chamber. — Andreo Calonzo/RSJ, GMA News