In 2016 when President Duterte came to power, the United Nations Children’s Fund noted in a study that the Philippines had become the global epicenter of live stream sexual abuse of minors. That year, a report by global anti-child exploitation network ECPAT International said between 60,000 to 100,000 Filipino children, mostly poor girls aged 14 to 17, were sexually trafficked overseas or within the country.
Now in the final days of his term, the President is being urged to sign into law the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children Act. Among other things, the proposed law imposes stiffer penalties for online sexual abuse of children and creates a National Coordinating Center against OSAEC.
The law will also require internet intermediaries and payment service providers to remove websites featuring content on the sexual abuse of children. Some private companies have started clamping down on OSAEC. Last year, amid studies showing that COVID lockdowns aggravated the problem, PLDT and Smart blocked access to 10,000 links to online child abuse materials.
The links were provided by the UK-based non-profit Internet Watch Foundation, which works together with law enforcement agencies, child welfare advocacy organizations and internet service providers and platforms including tech giants Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Telefonica and Vodafone.
The proposed Anti-OSAEC Act will institutionalize the takedown of websites that promote the sexual abuse and exploitation of minors. Last March, child welfare advocates welcomed President Duterte’s signing of a law raising the age of sexual consent from 12 to 16. Enactment of the law against OSAEC will complement that measure, and will be a laudable parting gift from the President to Filipino children.