Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte urged President Duterte to sign into law a bill that will strengthen the protection of children against online abuse and sexual exploitation.
The House of Representatives and the Senate recently ratified the bicameral conference committee (bicam) report on the proposed Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) Act.
The Anti-OSAEC bill ratified by Congress strengthens the protection for children by requiring internet intermediaries and other internet or payment service providers to take down or remove websites that stream illegal content of abuse of minors.
Villafuerte underscored the urgency of passing this law as he cited the alarming findings of the Department of Justice-Office of Cybercrime (DOJ-OOC) that there has been a 264.6% rise in reports of Filipino children being sexually abused over the Internet by pedophiles in the period of March 1 to May 24, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
His proposal, which aims to impose stiffer penalties against internet service providers (ISPs) found to have willing and knowingly allowed the use of their servers or facilities for child pornography, is outlined under House Bill (HB) No. 7947, which he filed in the outgoing Congress.
Villafuerte’s bill was consolidated with other similar bills into HB 10703.
“As sick as it may appear, as children stay at home due to quarantine restrictions, they are at further risk of online sex trafficking and exploitation. The perpetrators, other than the usual pimps and child traffickers, are sometimes the parents of the child victims themselves,” Villafuerte said.
“The internet should be a safe space for our children, especially now that we are more dependent on it for education. This bill seeks to provide more protection to our children and further increase its penalties over ISPs to further deter the commission of online child sexual exploitation crimes,” he added.
The Anti-OSAEC bill ratified by Congress strengthens the protection for children by requiring internet intermediaries and other internet or payment service providers to take down or remove websites that stream illegal content of abuse of minors.
Also included are stiffer penalties for those involved in cases of child abuse and the formation of the National Coordinating Center against OSAEC.
