DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Authorities here recently lamented the lack of digital equipment and other monitoring tools to detect the rising incidence of Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC).
This year, government authorities only monitored seven cases affecting 11 children victims in the Davao region, an increase from the two cases monitored in 2023 and four cases in 2024.
The number is a far cry from official statistics from the international bodies like UNICEF which said that in 2021, two million children in the Philippines were subjected to online sexual abuse and exploitation. The country is also the global epicenter of OSAEC, based on the thousands of sexual images of Filipino children proliferating on digital platforms used by sexual predators, according to Save the Children.
In a press conference Monday morning, Atty. Janet Grace Dalisay-Fabrero, Regional Prosecutor of the Department of Justice (DOJ) XI, said “meron tayong kakulangan sa mga equipment, meron tayong problema sa online monitoring, yung mga tools that we need for the detection of these activities ay hindi masyadong na-enhance.”
Fabrero said agencies under the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), like the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI XI), admitted that digital equipment and tools needed for monitoring have not yet arrived from Manila.
“That’s why those cases would not be really reflective of how rampant OSAEC is in the region, kasi Philippines is actually a hotspot of live-streamed child abuse,” Atty. Fabrero added.
Low awareness
UNICEF cited that due to stigma–not lack of monitoring tools and various reporting channels–“disclosure is disproportionately low with only 0-4 per cent of victims ever reported, and only 0-3 per cent know how to report to the police or to helplines.”
For her part, Jeannette Ampog, executive director of the nongovernmental Talikala which provides programs and services to prostituted women and children, said the lack of data and low detection has caused for a poor response in OSAEC.
Ampog explained that while there is an effort to raise awareness in schools to educate children about OSAEC, the framing of prevention should be clearly addressing the problem.
“When you talk about OSAEC and prevention, it should start on the discussion of rights and the situation of community including the programs available and most of all our existing laws,” she said.
‘Framing of prevention,’ according to Ampog, should focus on the key messaging that presents the prevalence study of OSAEC cases in the region, including the vulnerability of the affected sectors.
Ampog further explained that OSAEC is part of the ‘systemic problem of society’ where the vulnerable sector is always the women and children in the households.
“Maong kinahanglan sa atong approach to address this issue, kinahanglan naay opportunity ang parents to understand the legal aspect ug ang ilang mga katungod, naa silay economic empowerment ug kabahin usab diha ang accountability sa gobyerno nga maoy muaddress sa mga factors nganong mapugos man ang mga tawo nga musulod sa maong aktibidad tungod sa kalisud,” Ampog stressed.
Stressing that OSAEC is an urgent matter, Ampog emphasized the need for immediate action towards effective solutions, such as the proper implementation of the law and addressing poverty.
Favorite culprit: poverty
“Number one factor is poverty why parents indulge into such business or nganong ginahimo nilang business ang ilahang anak nga mas mapadali lang ang kita. Naa pud mga parokyano from the foreign country nga mupalit gyud pud,” said Gemma Dela Cruz, Assistant Regional Director for Operations, DSWD Davao Region.
The most recent OSAEC case was detected in Lupon, Davao, where parents victimized their own children aged 14, 11, and 4 years old, as well as two other relatives aged 11 and 9, for their clients.
OSAEC cases have been monitored by the DSWD in the municipalities of Maco, Cateel, Sta. Maria, Carmen, Mawab, and currently in Lupon. These cases are usually located in secluded areas where they are not easily detected.
Gladys A. Credo, Lead Secretariat of IACAT-VAWC DSWD–XI, noted that most of the parents and relatives come from poverty-stricken communities. They become the ‘facilitators’ or pimps of the victims, mostly their children and minor relatives, who easily fall into the “easy money trap” by earning money through online sexual activities.
These facilitators usually carry out the illegal activities inside their homes, without thinking about the crime they are committing, including their lack of awareness of the laws that prohibit such actions.
Credo said it usually starts with a chat with a foreign online friend who becomes their customer and eventually their ‘producer,’ luring them to perform an online show for P5,000. These shows are eventually reproduced on pornographic sites around the world.
Barangay level campaign
Because of the recorded cases of OSAEC where it is commonly related to adults and immediate family in households as pimps, IACAT is now considering strengthening its community and grassroots approach to raising awareness about OSAEC.
Admitting that much remains to be done, the awareness campaign will now shift to the barangay level to better reach adults.
“Let us not wait nga mulobo pa ang maong kadaghan sa mga mabiktima pa, so let us be vigilant and hinaot unta nga sa baba ang atong mga ginikanan ang atong community magiging aware nga kaning maong OSAEC cases dili ni sya panginabuhian but nakahatag ni sya og daku nga effect sa atoang mga kabataan. It may be long term or short term but daku ni siya og impact sa ilahang pagtubo ug sa ilahang involvement sa community,” Dela Cruz said.
“Let us focus our campaign not only on the part of the government, in the law enforcement, but let us make it a community-based campaign. Dapat lahat involved hindi lang yung government offices, ang ating NGO, ang ating families, ang ating parents but of course the entire people in the community,” DOJ’s Fabrero added.(davaotoday.com)
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