BY FR. SHAY CULLEN
THE GOVERNMENT seems powerless to stop the explosion of child sexual abuse in the Philippines on the internet. Because of that, the nation is now considered the center of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children worldwide. In its Oct. 9, 2024 survey report, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) revealed that one girl in every eight worldwide experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18.
An earlier Unicef survey found that in the Philippines, 7 million children are reportedly sexually and physically abused every year. This abuse is committed within families and the community. Thousands of children fall victim to human trafficking. Local governments are complicit in this by giving operating permits to sex bars, clubs and hotels where trafficked minors are brought to and sold for sex to customers, many of whom are foreigners. This is considered legal by government officials because the children have IDs saying they are over 18. The IDs are fake, but this is ignored.
Child abuse statistics are even more shocking when the number of children abused online is added to the total. Unicef says that if online abuse victims are included, as many as 650 million children — or one in every five — on the planet are sexual abuse victims. The sexual violence they experienced would naturally have a lifelong negative impact on them, and their trauma would be permanent unless they undergo deep healing therapy.
In an ongoing trial in Bulacan, evidence has been presented showing how two parents made hundreds of thousands of pesos by streaming live sex shows featuring young children being abused for foreigners. They included a Swiss and a Briton, as well as others who were unidentified. Two aunts also allegedly participated in setting up sex shows abusing two young boys and a girl. The parents are in jail, but the trial has been proceeding very slowly for over two years now. The two aunts, however, have outsmarted all the efforts of the Bulacan police to arrest them. They and many more child abusers being at large pose a challenge to Philippine National Police Director General Rommel Marbil, who was appointed last April.
This case has brought shame to the Philippines, as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. once said, because of the widespread online child abuse that is apparently undetected by telecommunication corporations. All this despite the passage of Republic Act 11930, or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (Anti-Osaec) Act, in July 2022.
That same year, the age of consent — the age at which a person is regarded to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts — was raised from 12 to 16. It was the lowest in the world; a disgraceful and shocking 12 years passed before it was raised. There was social acceptance; the State or Church didn’t protest. The law only changed when the number of women in Congress increased. As a result of that change, any sexual act with someone younger than 16 is considered statutory rape, punishable with life imprisonment. (To be continued)/PN
