Quisumbing wants probe into cybersex dens

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu sixth district representative Gabriel Luis Quisumbing yesterday filed in Congress House Bill 754 to probe on the continuous proliferation of cybersex dens in the country.

Quisumbing's  House Resolution No. 754 directs  the House Committee on the Welfare of Children to conduct an investigation  in aid of legislation  on the continued proliferation of cybersex dens and the enforcement of penal laws related to the problem.

"During the 15th Congress, we filed a similar resolution hoping to address the problem of child pornography and cybersex dens, especially in Cordova, a municipality in the sixth district of Cebu. Unfortunately, the previous resolution was not acted upon and we now see that the problem has persisted and has even proliferated on a nationwide scale," the legislator said.

The said resolution was never acted upon after it was left behind by the impeachment proceedings of former chief justice Renato Corona and the conduct of the upcoming May 2013 elections that time.

Quisumbing lamented that despite the enactment of laws on protecting children from exploitation, the use of children in pornographic performances wherein they are made to pose naked or perform sexual acts in front of a web camera has continued to proliferate.

Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act calls on the state to protect every child from all forms of abuse and exploitation.

Despite the law in place, continued surge of cases of cybersex dens being raided have been reported in several places in the Philippines, including the recent raids of cybersex dens in Angeles City in Pampanga and Sta. Mesa, Manila.

Quisumbing said that there is an urgent need to step up on the enforcement of these laws, adding that he hopes this investigation would help mitigate the problem on the existence and proliferation of cybersex dens and child pornography in the country.

"Now therefore, be it resolved, as it is hereby resolved, that the house committee on the welfare of children be directed to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation on the continued existence, even proliferation of cybersex dens all over the country, and the effectiveness of, as well as challenges to, the enforcement of all penal laws intended to prevent and deter the same," part of Quisumbing's HB 754 states.  (FREEMAN)