Gatchalian calls on gov’t to ramp up efforts vs. online sexual abuse of children

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday called on the government to ramp up its efforts to curb online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) in the country in observance of the National Awareness Week for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation.

In a statement, Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts, and Culture, urged the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography (IACACP) to sustain and boost its efforts against OSEC.

This, he said, requires continuous monitoring of the compliance of Internet service providers of the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009 amid the surge of cases of online sexual exploitation of children.

Citing information from the IACAT, Gatchalian said online tips on alleged OSEC has increased from 1.2 million in 2020, thrice as many as the recorded 400,000 tips in 2019.

The Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center, on the other hand, has rescued 172 victims in 2020, higher than the 120 rescued the year before.

The number of victims rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation’s Anti-Human Trafficking Division also rose from four in 2019 to 19 in 2020.

Gatchalian stressed the need to amend the country’s anti-trafficking laws to strengthen the government’s efforts against OSEC.

He earlier filed Senate Bill 1794 which aims to amend the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 to enhance the standards, guidelines, and methodologies on surveillance, interception, investigation, and prosecution of different forms of human trafficking.

“Ang pagdami ng mga akitibidad na may kinalaman sa online sexual abuse laban sa mga kabataan ay naging parang isa na ring pandemya na kailangan nating masugpo,” Gatchalian said.

“Maliban sa patuloy na pagtugis sa mga gumagawa ng mga krimeng ito, kailangan din nating patatagin ang ating mga batas upang mailigtas natin ang maraming nanganganib na mga kabataan,“ he added. — Erwin Colcol/RSJ, GMA News