“We must do everything we can to protect our children against this pandemic of child pornography!”
This according to Deputy Speaker and Manila 6th District Rep. Benny Abante Jr., who on Friday welcomed the intervention of President Rodrigo Duterte, who plans to mobilize cybercrime units and experts to investigate reports of students selling obscene photos and videos of themselves online in order to purchase devices necessary for online classes.
“The government has been using technology to track suspicious financial transactions (STRs) that possibly involve the purchase of child pornography online.”
Senator Bong Go earlier announced that the President is deeply concerned about the issue, and that “plano po ipatawag ng Pangulo ang mga cybercrime units and experts from concerned agencies para mapag-usapan kung paano maitigil ito at maproteksyunan ang ating kabataan.”
According to Abante, “with the President stepping in, we can expect law enforcement to step up their efforts to address this urgent concern.”
Aside from looking into students selling their images online, the lawmaker said cybercrime sleuths should also be tapped to go after producers of online child pornography in the country.
“The government has been using technology to track suspicious financial transactions (STRs) that possibly involve the purchase of child pornography online,” said Abante.
“Dapat gamitin din nila ang teknolohiya para mahanap, makasuhan, at makulong ang mga kriminal na nambibiktima ng ating mga kabataan.”
Aside from looking into students selling their images online, the lawmaker said cybercrime sleuths should also be tapped to go after producers of online child pornography in the country.
The solon was referring to a report by the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) that revealed that the volume of STRs related to child pornography reached 27,217 from January to June 2020, or more than 2.5 times the 10,627 reported for the entire 2019. The STRs are worth a total of 113.1 million pesos, which is already greater than the 65.8 million peso total for the whole of 2019.
The data is consistent with figures that show a 260% increase in reports of online child abuse materials from March to May 2020. The increases coincide with the lockdowns instituted to halt the spread of the COVID-19 virus.