Cases of child online sexual abuse rose by as much as 260% since the Philippines went on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced yesterday.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a non-profit organization that operates a hotline, reported a total of 279,166 child abuse cases to the DOJ from March 1 to May 24. For the same period in 2019, the NCMEC reported just 76,561 cases to the DOJ.
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Most of the cases reported to the government included possession, manufacture, and distribution of child porn; enticing kids to perform sexual acts online; trafficking minors for sex; and sexual molestation, among others. The DOJ said in a statement that the increase in cases can be attributed to the fact that during the lockdown, “[a] strict home quarantine is observed in all households, and internet usage surges as people stay home.”
However, the DOJ said that out of the thousands of cases, only 22 were referred to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and 10 arrests have been made, where seven suspects were captured and 34 minors were rescued. Cases have been filed in prosecutors’ offices in Caloocan, Taguig, Angeles City, and Butuan. Two cases are currently on trial.
DOJ Undersecretary Markk Perete explained that a small number of cases were referred to the NBI because some were referred to the Philippine National Police. He added that the high number of cases may be due to misreporting, such as when a family member posts a nude photo of a child on social media “in good faith.”
The DOJ lamented that internet service providers (ISPs) should install technologies that would prevent pedophiles from accessing webpages that offer child pornography.
“It is unfortunate that eleven (11) years after the law that prohibits any form of child pornography was passed, the ISPs have continued to be remiss of [their] duty to install blocking or filtering technology that would have greatly reduced the amount of time necessary to identify perpetrators and victims,” the department said.
Last week, the International Justice Mission, a non-profit organization fighting the sexual abuse of minors, said the Philippines is the “global hotspot” for child pornography with some victims being preyed on for years.
