Sen. Risa Hontiveros, FILE PHOTO / Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — In a bid to stop sex trafficking in the country, Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a bill that would monitor activities of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) and penalize “tech giants” that allow the use of their facilities for trafficking.
Hontiveros filed Senate Bill. No. 1929 after she led an investigation which revealed how women were trafficked into the Philippines to service Chinese POGO employees.
“Halos isang taon namin inimbistigahan ang mga korap sa Bureau of Immigration na naging daan sa pagtatraffick ng napakaraming babae sa ating bansa,” the senator, chair of the Senate women committee, said in a statement on Wednesday.
(It has been a year since we investigated the corruption with the Bureau of Immigration that served as a pathway for trafficking of a lot of women in our country.)
“The rise of POGOs has also been found to increase the vulnerability to trafficking and prostitution of our own women, our own girls,” she added.
The measure seeks to amend the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 to include responsibilities for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to address policy gaps in the said law.
It also seeks to recognize the use of online and digital platforms for human trafficking.
“Hindi pwedeng hands off ang mga tech giants sa isyung ito. Their platforms have made it easier and faster for many abusers to violate our women and children,” the senator said.
(Tech giants should not be hands off in this issue. Their platforms have made it easier and faster for many abusers to violate our women and children.)
“It is high time that they be made accountable for their products, and for them to also help secure a measure of justice for victim-survivors,” she added.
Under the bill, penalties will be imposed on private facilities, such as internet service providers, financial intermediaries, transport services including their online applications, “that knowingly allow the use of their facilities, whether digital or physical, for purposes of trafficking.”
The bill, according to the senator, also “explicitly prohibits” convicted alien sex offenders from entering the country.
The measure mandates the Department of Foreign Affairs to coordinate with the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Justice to ensure that these sex offenders will not be granted entry to the Philippines.
The senator said her bill is “proof that legislation must be updated to fit the times.”
The bill further expands the definition of trafficking in persons to include the online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC).
“New technologies show no signs of slowing down, but these are now used to harass, exploit, and abuse our women in a myriad of pernicious ways,” Hontiveros said, noting recent reports that dubbed the Philippines as the “global hotspot” of OSEC.
“Ngayon pang may COVID-19, kung kailan palaging online ang mga tao, mas bumigat ang karahasang dinadanas ng ating kababaihan at kabataan,” she added.
(Now that we are reeling from COVID-19 and the people are always online, there’s a rise in abuse being experienced by our women and children.)