By Ritchie A Horario/Manila Times
The anti-trafficking council (ATC) is considering involving the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in its campaign against child pornography.
Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday directed the council to intensify its efforts and increase co-ordination with other government agencies and the private sector following the discovery of an international child pornography ring that is centred in the country.
The NTC has jurisdiction over telecommunications companies and other Internet providers. “We are looking to tap the government’s regulatory body on telecommunications as these child pornography groups operate primarily using the Internet,” said Binay, who is chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
He said the IACAT would co-ordinate with NTC on how to strengthen the monitoring of online pornography.
While the government is stepping up its drive against cyber-pornography, Binay has said the IACAT would welcome the help of telcos and Internet service providers in tracking down the local sources of pornographic content.
“Any data they can provide for authorities to be able to track down these porn syndicates faster would be most welcome,” he said.
Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), a group of American, British and Australian law enforcers, rates the Philippines as among the top 10 countries with widespread online pornography that involved even minors.
A data map provided by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) of the United Kingdom also showed locations in the Philippines where child pornography was transmitted in 2012. The report revealed that Metro Manila, Angeles City in Pampanga, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro were the locations where the most child pornographic materials — including photos, recorded videos and live-streamed videos—were transmitted.
The vice president said that while child pornography in the Philippines does not necessarily involve recruitment, since the purveyors are usually the victim’s parents or relatives, it is still related to child trafficking because the victims are forced to perform sexual acts for clients.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of the US, upon which the annual Global Trafficking in Persons (GTIP) report is based, defines sex trafficking as “the recruitment, harbouring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.”
