Groups call for laws to address child porn

Several civic and church groups formed the Anti-Child Pornography Alliance (ACPA) yesterday and called on lawmakers to pass laws to address the problem of child pornography that has been existing in the country for the last 30 yeasrs.

United Nations Children’s Fund program officer for child protection Anjanette Saguisag said a study they conducted in 2004 showed the problem had been existing since the 1970s and has worsened through "new technology. We are not doing enough to protect our children."

Saguisag, however, failed to present any figures.

"It was a descriptive study but there are no statistics because of the complexity. We don’t know how to count every image shot, every child per image. It is also seldom when a case is reported," she said.

Saguisag said while there is nothing wrong with technology, pornographic pictures of children can be transmitted through cell phones, video conferencing, and the Internet.

She said the Filipino culture is partly to blame for the spread of child pornography because it paints Filipinas as weak sex objects who could be used and abused by men.

Saguisag also said there is a misconception that since pornography does not entail any physical contact, no harm is commited.

"The children expose themselves and they think it is all part of play. They don’t realize the harmful effects of child pornography in the long term," she said.

ISKOLAR executive director Reynard Kayne Ycasiano said child pornography is prevalent in rural areas, provinces and tourist destinations such as Boracay in Aklan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Baguio, Angeles and Olongapo.

ISKOLAR and ACPA will create a technical working committee with the help of the Ateneo Human Rights Center to draft an anti-pornography bill.

Some of the convenors of ACPA are Caritas Manila, Radyo Veritas 846, Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines-National Capital Region, Philippine Christian University, St. Scholastica’s College and the College Editor’s Guild of the Philippines.