Internet providers told: Help in drive vs kid abusers

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JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday warned Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that the government will go after and sue them for online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) if they refuse to cooperate in tracking down abusers, particularly of minors.

Remulla issued the warning at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum where he said that ISPs should perform their obligations under Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009 requiring them to install a software that will block access to or transmittal of any form of child pornography in the internet.

The law also requires ISPs to notify authorities within seven days from discovery that any form of child pornography is being committed using their servers or facilities.

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“We will give them an ultimatum. I just have to speak with the Cybercrime Division again so that we will know how long it will take for these key persons to comply with the law. I will also be speaking to the heads of our Cybercrime Division, both with the DOJ and the National Bureau of Investigation, so we will know what it would take for them to comply and what is needed. But I will definitely issue an ultimatum,” Remulla said.

He said he intends to give the ISPs until September 15 to comply with the law.

“If the ISPs do not cooperate, maybe there’s a pattern that they missed, we will also include them for the people who will be charged for online sexual exploitation. We are that serious,” Remulla added.

“We are asking for their help. We do not want to go charging everybody, but we just want people to cooperate,” he said.

Last Tuesday, Remulla said the government is concerned that the country has become the top source of online OSAEC and “we are declaring a war on this.”

This after the country’s Special Envoy to the United Nations Children’s Fund, Nikki Teodoro, said the country has become “number one for child trafficking, and online pornography” after cases of child exploitation rose by over 280 percent this year.

Remulla, also the chairman of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), said the National Telecommunications Commission can also issue fines on a daily basis for non-compliance and non-cooperation.

IACAT is composed of the Departments of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Interior and Local Governments, and Labor and Employment as well as the PNP, National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Immigration.

Remulla said the IACAT is also working with the Anti-Money Laundering Council to help track the online payments involved in the illegal operations but acknowledged the technological challenges confronting the government on the OSEAC issue.

Remulla also said there is a need to update the Immigration law by passing a new immigration act to help tighten the country’s borders against foreign pedophiles who can easily enter the country due to non-visa requirements.

“Hopefully, we can have something done to strengthen the immigration department. That’s the point of entry of all these criminals who prey on our children, that is why there is a need to fix our immigration law,” Remulla said.

He added that foreign pedophiles using technology can easily book a trip to the country to look for minors to abuse using the non-visa requirements for some countries.

He said there is also a need for greater cooperation and information sharing among countries so the fight against OSAEC will be a success.

The Philippines has retained its Tier 1 ranking in the 2022 US State Department Trafficking in Persons report for its efforts to eliminate human trafficking and online sexual exploitation of children but the report said more should be done.

Last year, the DOJ reported that more than 370 children who were victims of online sexual abuse and exploitation were rescued by authorities amid the restrictions posed by the pandemic.

It also led to the arrest of 74 suspected traffickers, according to then Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.

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