Sitoys: Hard time cracking down on cyberporn dens
Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy said he was embarrassed that his town was known as a hot spot for cybersex pornography.
He said it was difficult to crack down on the activities because they are operating inside private houses.
“It’s difficult to apprehend them and gather evidence since we can’t just enter their houses,” said the mayor.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last week arrested a married couple after raiding their house in barangay Ibabao, Cordova town, with a search warrant.
The couple were caught in the act of directing their young children to pose naked and perform lewd gestures in front of a web camera with foreigners viewing them on the Internet.
Charges of violation of laws on Anti-Trafficking in Persons, child abuse and child prostitution were filed against the parents.
Cordova town leads Cebu in the most number of human trafficking cases, according to Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, citing research of the Provincial Women’s Commission, which she heads.
She said Cordova’s proximity to Metro Cebu is a factor.
The town is a third-class municipality whose main livelihood is fishing.
The NBI raid was prompted by a request for assistance by the PWC, which received a a sample video of the web camera show featuring the couple’s children.
The right to privacy makes it difficult for law enforcers to check online pornography, said Provincial Board member Arleigh Sitoy, a former mayor of Cordova.
He said he would talk with his father, the current mayor, about coming up with new policies that focus on “intensified provision of alternative livelihood rather than arrests.”
PB Member Sitoy said he tried a similar campaign when he was mayor in 2006, promoting training for masseurs and reflexology.
He said he warned the people “that if they will not stop, I would make their lives difficult.”
Sitoy said he talked with several individuals but no one would come out in a group meeting.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if this is also happening in other urban areas,” he said.
