BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The parents who were allegedly using their four children for online sexual abuse and exploitation are likely to spend their remaining lives in prison.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Aladdin Dingal, officer-in-charge of the Women and Children’s Protection Center in Western Visayas, said the couple has been selling explicit images of their children for over a year.
Dingal added that they are currently trying to determine whether syndicates are involved.
In an interview with 96.7 XFM-Bacolod, Atty. Cesar Beloria explained that online sexual abuse and exploitation is a serious charge, and penalties depend on the number of counts or how many times they commit the crime.
The suspects were arrested in an entrapment and raid planned by the Women and Children’s Protection Desk of the Bacolod City Police Office around 6:20 p.m. on Friday, July 14 in Purok Tumpok, Espinos Village 2, Barangay Taculing.
The parents are facing charges for violations of Republic Act (RA) 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act), RA 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act), and RA 9975 (Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009).
Meanwhile, the children—two boys and two girls—are now under the protection and care of Balay Silongan, a halfway house for abused children.
According to the non-government organization Save the Children Philippines, cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines increased by 264.6 percent, or 202,605 more, during the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine from March to May 2020, compared to the 76,561 cases during the same period in 2019, citing data from the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. (Watchmen Daily Journal)
