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Child Pornography Dot Com Dot Ph
The first known cases of child pornography in the Philippines was in the late 60’s and early 70’s when US servicemen stationed in Vietnam made stopovers in the Philippines for rest and recreation.
Back then US servicemen filmed willing subjects in the Philippines in exchange for a small fee. Willing subjects were not much of a problem then. Any child or parent in dire need of money fell for prospects of easy income offered by pornographers.
By the 1980’s the Philippines was a regular destination of pedophiles. In fact, exotic destinations such as Pagsanjan Falls gave a face to child pornography and prostitution. Again, poverty played a role in giving pornographers easy and cheap access to subjects. Weak law enforcement also made pornography and prostitution flourish.
Today with the advent of the worldwide web, it is even easier for pornographers to victimize children. They don’t have to travel to the Philippines anymore. All it takes is the internet and a webcam from where they are. Pornographers have since lurked online to prey on young users.
A 2005 study by the UNICEF and the Programme on Psychosocial Trauma and Human Rights of the University of the Philippines Center of Integrative and Development Studies say many Filipino children fall victims to child pornography more than we realize it. These children do not necessarily come from poor families anymore. Those who have access to the internet can be victimized by child pornographers through webcams, chat and porn sites, and this is any parent’s worst nightmare.
The same study says it is now more difficult to track both criminals and victims with internet use being uncontrollable and unregulated. Internet Service Providers or ISP’s cannot be compelled to police the net, and credit card companies cannot be obliged to divulge information on clients who subscribe to these sites.
In 2007 the Optical Media Board took an active stand against child pornography by linking up with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Bantay Bata and the Philippine National Police. OMB even collaborated with the Department of Education to use the internet itself to educate the youth and parents on the dangers that lurk online.
But any effort to fight child pornography barely scratched the surface of this menace in the absence of stiffer penalties on pornographers, publishers, pirated DVD distributors, porn sites or ISP’s.
But on August 18, 2009 the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading, House Bill 6440 or “An Act Defining the Crime of Child Pornography, Prescribing Penalties Thereof, and for Other Purposes”. It is the lower house version of Senate Bill 2317 or “An Act Prohibiting Child Pornography, Imposing Penalties for the Commission Thereof and for Other Purposes” passed on third and final reading on November 24, 2008. Several cause-oriented groups and lobbyists have been pushing President Gloria Arroyo to prioritize both bills as urgent.
A specific legislation defining child pornography and batting for stiffer penalties for offenders is a sign that our lawmakers acknowledge that the country could and should be doing more to abate child pornography and other child abuse cases.
But let us not leave it up to law enforcers. As parents, we should also be active in all fronts to make sure our children are protected from those preying on them in the internet.
- Education is key. We should make sure we tell our children (repeatedly) about the uncontrollable and unregulated cyber space to make them aware of its dangers.
- Households should also invest on software that can block certain internet sites to make sure kids only access wholesome sites. It is a way for parents to exercise a little more control over internet usage and content at home.
- Social sites may be a good way for children to interact with friends but these are also the very sites where pornographers and perverts visit. If we warn our children not to talk to strangers in the streets, allowing them to indiscriminately make friends with strangers online is inconsistent.
- The home computer should be situated in a general area of the house i.e. living room or den and never allow children to go online while locking up in their bedrooms.
- Internet usage must also be regulated in the household like TV viewing. We must keep schedules. A lot of kids these days spend more hours online than actually interacting with real people.
The internet opens many possibilities and learning opportunities for our children but it should neither rule nor ruin their lives.