They are the two latest arrivals at the Preda Foundation’s beautiful home for exploited children set in the countryside and surrounded by wooded hills beside a small stream. The children are 12-year-old Pedro, and Angelica, who is seven, they are victims of online sexual abuse perpetrated by an uncle with the knowledge of their parents. They have been rescued and are happily playing with toys and recovering from the abuse.
Their abusive uncle made a video in which he blindfolded the children, put his mobile phone into his briefs, and told them to look for it. He videotaped the sexual abuse that followed and uploaded it to YouTube. He was detected and the Philippine National Police Women and Children Protection Centre (PNP-WCPC) of Region 4A tracked him down and arrested him.
A week previously, three other child victims of cyber sexual abuse were rescued through the intervention of the International Justice Mission (IJM), together with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the PNP-WCPC.
The children were brought by government social workers to the Preda home. The government has no more capacity for the victims and has no commitment to financially support them at the Preda home.
They had been sexually abused by their own stepmother and exposed online to Australian paedophiles over the Philippine Internet service providers, either PLDT/Smart or Globe. These companies are violating Philippine law by not blocking child pornography and allowing the live streaming of child sexual abuse. Soon, there may be international sanctions against them if they don’t obey Philippine and international laws to protect children online.
The Philippines is a global hotspot for online child sexual abuse. It has grown more severe with the Covid-19 coronavirus lock-down and restricted international travel. Many more foreign paedophiles are seeking sexual gratification by having children abused live online while they watch. Parents and relatives are the perpetrators along with the ISPs that enable it.
The frequency and number of reported incidents of online child sexual abuse has exploded. The United States-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which operates the Cyber Tipline Report (CTR), has a hotline for cases of online exploitation of children and, from March 1 to May 24 recorded 279,166 incidents, according to the Philippine Department of Justice.
The number is greater by 264.63 per cent or by 202,605 incidents in comparison to the numbers recorded at this time in 2019. Then, there were 76,561 reports of on-line sexual abuse of small children. This a shocking and disgusting figure. The NCMEC is a non-government agency.
Another study, led by the IJM, shows that Internet-based child sexual abuse in the Philippines tripled over the past three years. The study showed that the number of Internet accounts used for online child sexual exploitation increased from about 23,333 in 2014 to a whopping 81,723 by 2017.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
So, over a three year period, the increase in the number of Internet addresses used to share images and acts of sexual abuse of children increased from 43 per 10,000 addresses to 149 per 10,000 addresses—a massive and shocking increase in the sexual abuse of Filipino children.
This evil inclination of pedophiles and their enablers that is damaging thousands of children shows a serious failure on the part of irresponsible government officials to implement existing laws to protect the nation’s children.
The enablers that make it possible are the Internet Service Providers such as PLDT/Smart and Globe Telecommunications. Soon, a new player DITO Telecommunity, will provide access to the Internet.
The ever vigilant and straight-talking man of action, the president, Rodrigo Duterte, intolerant of child sexual abuse, must use all his presidential power to protect the children and get the National Telecommunication Commission, headed by commissioner, Gamaliel A. Cordoba, and deputy commissioner, Delilah F. Delesto, to explain why Internet Service Providers have not installed detection software to block the uploading and downloading of child pornography and online live-streaming of the sexual abuse of children as provided for by law.
The NTC was so quick to issue a Cease and Desist Order against ABS-CBN for no fault other than the non-renewal of its franchise, but how much more important is the protection of little children—some three-years-old—from online sexual abuse about which the commission appears to be doing nothing, favouring PLDT and Globe?
These powerful Internet Service Providers, PLDT headed by Manuel V. Pangilinan, and Globe headed by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, must answer for the child abuse that is happening via their services. Have they “captured” the regulators at the NTC and have an arrangement to not implement the clear provisions of the law? Would they lose the revenue of more than 82,000 or even 100,000 paying customers perhaps?
Republic Act 9557, under Section 9, says: “The duties of Internet Server Providers (ISP) to monitor the content passing through their servers notify the police of illegal content and provide the authorities the particulars of users who gained or attempted to gain access to an Internet address which contains any form of child pornography. All ISPs shall install available technology, programme or software to ensure access to or transmittal of any form of child pornography will be blocked or filtered” (See the complete law at www.preda.org). The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, Republic Act No. 10175 bans cybersex and child pornography, among other things.
What appears to be collusion between government agencies and the telecommunications companies enables 24/7 the access to horrific images of children being tortured, raped and abused. The pernicious and evil abuse of online streaming of children being sexually abused must be stopped by the NTC and the ISPs.
Can Duterte be the one man that can do it? Who are the worst criminals? They who do it? They who order and pay for it? Or those in the NTC and ISPs who enable it to happen? All three must be held to account and face the sanctions of the just laws.
Father Shay Cullen
www.preda.org
