Toothless ordinance
Cebu City is cracking down on Internet cafes to flush out operators that provide access to pornographic sites, a violation of Ordinance 1901.
The local ordinance was enacted in 2001 through the authorship of Councilor Edgardo Labella. Apprehension that Internet cafes had become a beehive of online prostitution was rife during that time because many Internet establishments provided for cubicles. The setup raised suspicion, as it allowed customers to access pornographic sites and even engage in lewd acts with an online partner.
Interestingly, the ordinance is silent in the putting up of private rooms but it strictly requires operators “to install licensed filtering software against pornographic, satanic, violent and rebellious sites.” Violators will be penalized with fines for the first and second offenses. A third violation would mean revocation of the business permit.
Among the provisions of the 10-year old statute is compulsory accreditation of all Internet cafes with the Internet Cafe Association of Cebu (ICAC) before getting a business permit. The policy is to encourage Internet cafe operators to police their own ranks.
Ordinance 1901 was later amended in response to rampant absenteeism by students who, instead of going to school, cut classes to play Internet games.
It has been 10 years since the enactment and enforcement of the ordinance. With all due respect, it looks to me the law is a toothless tiger.
For one thing, the context of the online prostitution problem has significantly changed. Although people still go to Internet cafes to browse and chat, traffic has significantly waned. Credit goes to telecommunication companies for opening wide telecom services, whether the user is inside or outside his home.
Note that despite the incidence of poverty in Cordova, reports say that cybersex was being carried out inside the homes for the past six years.
Second, the ordinance involves a lot of monitoring but there is no specific group that assumes full responsibility and no mechanism to guide the examination of Internet cafe operations.
In its latest resolution, the City Council called for the mobilization of the City Anti-Indecency Board to make random checks on Internet cafes, whether they have installed filtering software to block pornographic sites, or whether there is strict compliance of restricting students from entering during class hours. Did the City Council consider that CAIB does not have staff to carry out monitoring duties?
I gathered that the agency was given this task many years ago but because it had no manpower, then CAIB chairman Dr. Joseph Rene Bullecer looked for a way out. He signed an agreement with barangay officials, effectively delegating responsibility to them. At that time, barangay Apas was reported to have hundreds of Internet cafes operating indiscriminately, and truancy became a big problem especially in public schools.
The Council should assess the situation on the ground before making resolutions for the executive to carry out otherwise, it will amount to nothing.
A check on the performance of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) is in order, whether barangay level action is effective in monitoring Internet cafe operations. The council could also ask updates from the ICAC, and evaluate if self regulation policy is working.
This is not to malign our barangay chairmen, but I wonder how many are really familiar with information technology. More importantly, do they have the time and resources to watch over Internet operations? Similarly, I don’t think ICAC officials would bother with the competition when they also have their own business to attend to.
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The real property sector is agog about the first-ever real estate forum, to be held tomorrow at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Exsell 2011 organizers led by Jun Garing, acknowledged as the guru of Pinoy salesmanship and head of the marketing team of Filinvest/SRP Group, expect hundreds of participants who will listen to five of the country’s top salesmen share best practices in condominium selling. The event is well thought of, as Cebu is expected to deliver billions of pesos worth of condominium inventories in the next two to three years.
Cebu has truly made its mark not just as a tourist destination but also as top investment hub of Asia.
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In a previous column, I paid tribute to fathers all over the world by writing about a spiritual father belonging to the Redemptorist Community in Cebu, Fr.
Hugh O’Donoghue. Cebuanos who have a special affection for the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Our Mother of Perpetual Help are familiar with the Irish priest, former rector of the Redemptorist Church.
Having been around Cebu for close to 50 years, Fr. Hugh has seen a lot of changes. The area where the OLPH shrine is used to be a quiet place in the ’60s, when the only neighbors the Redemptorists knew then were the nuns who ran the St. Theresa’s College and the family of the late Don Ramon Aboitiz.
Today the area around the church is a hodgepodge of fast-food chains, coffee shops, Internet establishments, hotels, supermarkets, including two bars.
Fr. Hugh said the Cebuano’s lifestyle also changed alongside changes in the landscape. He recalls the years when life in Cebu was peaceful and simple, when the quiet would sometimes be disturbed by a single shooting incident.
Cebu was idyllic and the people were “very buotan,” according to Fr. Hugh. The old folks especially were faithful and kept their faith alive. Today, he wondered if parents still have time to teach their children about God.
