Letter to the Editor — Cybersex: The growing menace in our society

Cybersex, the content of our newspapers, is a growing concern that should not be ignored. For one, Cybersex degrades Filipino morals. Filipinos are known to be conservative and deeply religious, but earlier reports on media, show that women from Barangay Cordova, 16 to 40 years old, earn money by exposing their bodies to on-line clients.

This behavior destroys our dignity as a respectable race and subjects our women and the Filipino youths to abuse and hostility. Philippines is a Christian country. We are proud of our culture and we uphold our values. Engaging in any sexual perversion is taboo to our Christian morals. We claim to be believers of Christ yet this kind of indecency exists in our society. How can we show to the world that we are not a nation of on-line pimps - willing to sell our dignity for a few dollars? It is about time we find ways to fight this growing menace in cybersex.

Indeed, the absence of law penalizing on-line perversion encourages Internet surfers to engage in cybersex activities. It is best if our government will seriously take part in monitoring this wayward Internet operators or providers. A plan should be considered by the government to regulate the Internet:

* Passing of a bill that would penalize offenders practicing cybersex and cyberporn

* Establishing a government organization or committee that would be responsible for fighting cybersex.

* An organization run by highly capable investigators specializing in computer crime

* Creation of a website that caters to the complaints in cybersex and related issues

* Installation of a software that would screen and filter pornographic sites from the Internet.

* Imposition of higher fines and longer imprisonment terms for offenders.

The fight against illicit sex and pornography can be traced even at the earliest time. In this age of democracy and rise of digital media, the fight continues. It may be impossible to eradicate this problem completely, but we can do something to suppress it. The best way is to instill in our minds morality and evangelize Christian values. To quote John Rerry Barlow's advice to parents: "If you don't want your children fixating on filth, better step up to the tough task of raising them to find it as distasteful as you do yourself".

Leoben Wenceslao
Clemencia Abella
A.B. Liacom 4
University of San Jose-Recoletos