Aquino urged: Show teeth in implementing child porn law

MANILA, Philippines—A child welfare party-list group on Saturday urged President Benigno Aquino III to “show teeth” in implementing the Anti-Child Pornography Law in the country.

“If President Aquino really wants to end this worst form of abuse against our children and in order to stop the growing cottage industry of child pornography in the country, his administration must show some teeth in strongly implementing the existing child porn law and set an example by convicting culprits and masterminds,” Arlene Brosas, national secretary-general of Akap Bata Sectoral Organization.

Akap Bata said the Aquino administration is doing nothing against criminal syndicates behind child pornography operations in the Philippines.

The party-list group said that even before the recent report of international task force and agencies has been exposed, online and recorded pornography involving children has been one of the major local concerns that resulted to the passage of the Anti-Child Pornography Law in 2009.

Brosas said that compared to other countries, child porn cases in the Philippines will get worse if the government will do nothing significant about the poor justice system and the system of impunity in the country.

“Our lacking of an effective system that will protect our own children serves as an open invitation to criminal syndicates and child sex offenders to continue their operations in the country,” Brosas said.

Akap Bata also egged on Aquino to resolve poverty as the root cause why children were being dragged to the evils of child pornography.

“The economic hardships being passed on by the government to the already burdened shoulders of poor Filipino families, like the rising costs of prices of basic commodities and services, demolition of their homes, meager wages and many others makes the families and their children more vulnerable to cyber pornography,” Brosas said.

Brosas said Aquino should be aware that the problem needs deep social and economic resolutions.

“The rampant and prevalent cases of child porn have been reported on poor communities all over the country,” Brosas said.

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