With the Senate passing on Third Reading a bill that seeks to protect children from online sexual abuse on Thursday, Rizal 2nd District Rep. Fidel Nograles has urged the House of Representatives to prioritize the passage of its counterpart measure in order to provide additional protection for Filipino children against online sexual predators.
The Senate, voting 23-0-0, approved on final reading Senate Bill No. 2209 or the proposed Special Protections against Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (Anti-OSAEC) Law.
Nograles is the author of House Bill No. 7633, or the “Anti-Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children Act of 2020,” which seeks to amend Section 9 of Republic Act 9775 (Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009).
“I call on my colleagues to pass the Lower House’ counterpart bill against online child abuse at the soonest possible time. Ipasa na po natin bago pa man tayo maging abala sa 2022 budget deliberations,” Nograles said.
Nograles is the author of House Bill No. 7633, or the “Anti-Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children Act of 2020,” which seeks to amend Section 9 of Republic Act 9775 (Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009).
The bill is pending with the Committee on Revision of Laws.
Earlier this year, the neophyte solon urged Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to certify the measure as urgent.
“We need to implement stronger interventions to protect our children from online sexual predators,” Nograles said.
He added that HB No. 7633 would be crucial in establishing greater collaboration between government and Information and Communication Technology Service Providers, allowing them to be more proactive in addressing the issue of online sexual exploitation.
“Our children are clearly exposed to more harm during the ongoing lockdown and we need to work doubly fast to put in place mechanisms to protect them.”
The Department of Justice – Office of Cybercrime revealed that based on the data from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cyber tip reports in the Philippines increased by 209 percent from January to December 2020 (1,294,750 cyber tips) compared to 2019 (418,422 cyber tips).
“Our children are clearly exposed to more harm during the ongoing lockdown, and we need to work doubly fast to put in place mechanisms to protect them,” Nograles said.