In this April 25, 2017, photo, former cybersex victims participate in a study course at a counseling center for sexual exploitation survivors in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
MANILA, Philippines — Twelve minors, including two children of one of the alleged cybersex traffickers, have been rescued in separate entrapment operations in Bulacan, Taguig and Leyte, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday.
In a press briefing, the PNP said operatives arrested two suspects in online sex trafficking on Thursday, the culmination of a series of surveillance operations that began in June.
“Only this week, the Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC) was able to locate one suspect in Dagani, Leyte. The WCPC urgently sent our personnel to Leyte. Together with the Visayas Field Unit, the team conducted surveillance and was able to locate one suspect with her two children – also abused,” PNP deputy chief of operations Major General Benjamin Santos Jr. detailed.
The other suspect was nabbed by WCPC in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, he said, even though the court had not yet issued a cyber warrant in response to their application.
“The WCPC will be applying for a warrant to examine computer data to obtain evidence from the seized digital devices as a result of the warrantless arrest,” Santos noted.
Police caught the suspects in the act, according to WCPC public information officer Police Major Winnie Lampuyas, who spoke with INQUIRER.net.
“Ongoing ang show sa mga foreigner noong na-entrap [iyong mga suspek],” she said in a text message.
(The show for the foreigners was ongoing when the police entrapped the suspects.)
Reports from the PNP-WCPC showed that five victims were rescued in Taguig City, five others in Bulacan, and the two remaining in Leyte.
For his part, PNP-WCPC chief Police Brigadier General Arcadio Jamora Jr. said the suspects had been earning around $50 to $100 (P2,868.28 to P5,736.55 ) for each live stream.
He then assured the public that the victims have since been brought to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The Nordic Liaison Office, the German Police, the Australian Federal Police, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations all made referrals that led to the successful rescue of the 12 minors.
The suspects, some of whom had already been collared by foreign law enforcement, were accused of selling recordings and live feeds of the young victims to international consumers.
“In Europe, kalat na kalat iyong materials natin. Sa US, meron din at meron din sa Australia. Worldwide ito. This is a worldwide crime,” Santos said.
(In Europe, the materials of the victims have been distributed. These also spread across the US and Australia. This is a worldwide crime.)
Meanwhile, Jamora pointed out that the WCPC still has thousands of referrals pending validation.
“If you look at our figures, compared to the referrals, there is a huge difference because those are still unvalidated,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Jamora said they had been working closely with other domestic and international law enforcement organizations to verify the claims.
In a 2021 Global Threat Assessment report by WeProtect Global Alliance, the Philippines — tagged by the United Nations Children’s Fund in 2016 as “the global epicenter” of live-streamed child pornography — recorded a 265-percent increase in online child sexual abuse from March to May 2020.
READ: Pandemic worsens online child sexual abuse in PH, says global report
But with the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children law, the government’s crackdown on online sexual predation is seen to intensify further with the cooperation of more social media platforms.