DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 18 November) – Cases of online sexual exploitation of children in Davao Region amid the pandemic have increased, authorities said.
Peter John Cabanilla, victim witness coordinator designate of the Department of Justice-Davao, said during Kapihan sa Philippine Information Agency-Davao on Friday that most of those cases involved no less than the parents who forced their children into online prostitution for income.
He said abuses were notably higher during the pandemic when work-from-home arrangement was encouraged, making it easy for perpetrators to lure minors into online prostitution.
He said victims of the online sexual exploitation came from low-income families affected by the pandemic.
“It could easily lure low-income families… would resort to selling their own children online,” he said.
At present, Cabanilla said there are eight cases of sexual exploitation of children in the region prohibited under Republic Act 11930, known as the “Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act.”
The law defines child sexual abuse as “any form of communication through any platform or format, or any physical interaction between a child and any person when the child is being used for any act or activity inducing sexual stimulation or for the purpose of sexual gratification or in pursuit of the desire to have carnal knowledge of the child, regardless of the gender of the perpetrator or the victim, or the consent of the victim.”
The law imposes a penalty of imprisonment with a fine ranging from P200,000 to P2 million. But a higher fine of not less than P5 million to P20 million and imprisonment is imposed for persons found guilty of syndicated and large-scale violations.
Kate Dianne Opimo, advocacy officer of Talikala Inc., said there are unreported cases of online trafficking because some victims are unaware of the crime while others choose to not report it because it is their livelihood.
“We do awareness campaigns about trafficking because they do not know that they are being trafficked already. During community education there were men who were victims of trafficking and they learned about it because of communication education,” she added.
Gladys Credo, focal person for Department of Social Worker and Development-Davao, added that authorities are conducting rescue and entrapment operations to save victims from online sexual abuse, where most victims are children.
For the last two months, authorities rescued one victim in Davao City and three in Davao del Norte.
He said online sexual abuse remains increasing in Davao even as the country transitions back to pre-pandemic situation with the easing of restrictions that allowed companies to operate at full capacity and schools to resume in-person classes. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)