DTI urged: Crack down on equipment used for child pornography

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) should conduct a crackdown on the sale of equipment and materials on online shopping platforms that can be used to produce child pornography, Deputy Speaker Bienvenido Abante Jr. said Wednesday.

According to Abante, the government must become more aggressive in its efforts to prevent incidents of child pornography as cases rose in 2020 compared to 2019.

Aside from tracing producers and purveyors of child pornography, “the government should step in to make sure the tools of this disgusting trade are not easily purchased online,” Abante said in a statement.

“Alam naman ng mga awtoridad kung anu-ano ang mga kagamitan na ginagamit sa pag-produce ng child porn. Dapat i-identify ang mga ito at matanggal ito sa mga shopping apps,” he added.

(Authorities know what equipment is used in producing child pornography. We should identify them and remove them from shopping applications.)

Abante said according to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), in a public bulletin titled “Child pornography in the Philippines,” the volume of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) related to child pornography reached 27,217 from January to June 2020.

This is 2.5 times more than the 10,627 reported for the entire 2019, said Abante.

“Various reports, from agencies like the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council, all indicate a disturbing rise in child pornography in the country––a sickening development no doubt fueled by the ongoing pandemic,” Abante said.

“These figures the AMLC shared are only for the first half of 2020, and they reflect a tragic reality in our country: while the pandemic is raging outside, inside thousands of homes, Filipino children are being exploited and abused,” he added. — Zac Sarao, trainee

EDV