JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday said more than 370 children who are victims of online sexual abuse and exploitation were rescued by authorities last year even amid restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Guevarra said the operations that resulted in the rescue were made possible through the efforts of the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC) that was formed three years ago to enhance law enforcement collaboration to fight online sexual abuse and exploitation targeting children.
“To measure its successful efforts, the International Justice Mission reported that in 2015, the Philippines saw 112 victims rescued from online sexual exploitation of children compared to 231 in only two years of PICACC’s operation,” Guevarra said in a message on the third anniversary celebration of the PICACC launching.
“In 2021, the total operations conducted by PICACC reached 118 that resulted in the rescue of 373 identified trafficked victims and the arrest of 74 suspects,” he added.
Guevarra said the PICACC now serves as a “model’ for an enhanced global response against these cases, adding its successful operations has contributed greatly to the Philippines maintaining its Tier 1 ranking in the 2021 US Global Trafficking in Persons report of the State Department.
Countries on Tier 1 are those that meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.
But Guevarra said there are still challenges to address in the fight against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, such as the failure of internet service providers to comply with their legal obligation to assist law enforcement in cyber-related investigation, including the preservation and disclosure of computer data associated to specific IP addresses despite the enactment of the law 11 years ago against child pornography.
