Court admits digital evidence in abuse case

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MANILA, Philippines — A 32-year-old woman from Iligan City has been convicted of facilitating the online sexual exploitation of children, following a “groundbreaking” trial that made use of digital evidence and in-depth video interviews to protect the victims’ identities, officials said on Sunday.

A regional trial court in Iligan City found the woman, identified by the authorities only as “ZZZ,” guilty of multiple violations of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, the antichild pornography law, and the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.

The landmark case was reported on Sunday by the National Coordination Center (NCC) against Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, chaired by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.

Details about the woman’s prison sentence and other penalties were still unclear at press time, as no copy of the decision was immediately made available to reporters.

Offered to foreigners

According to the center’s statement, the woman was arrested in 2019 after law enforcement discovered she was offering children to foreign perpetrators for sexual exploitation through online platforms.

The prosecution, led by Assistant Iligan City Prosecutor Jasmin Guiuo-Diaz, a member of the regional antitrafficking task force in Northern Mindanao, “achieved a groundbreaking success” by protecting the child victims from court appearances, the NCC said.

Instead, they maximized the use of digital evidence and video-in-depth interviews during the hearings.

Northern Mindanao Regional State Prosecutor Merlynn Barola-Uy said the ruling underscored the significance of proper case build-up in child trafficking cases.

“Most importantly, this case proves we can effectively use the VIDI mechanism as a child protection strategy, which the [Northern Mindanao regional task force] actively advocates for,” Uy added.

The Department of Justice earlier identified Iligan City as one of the hotbeds for online child sexual abuse, along with the cities of Taguig and Cagayan de Oro.

P200 to P300 ‘bait’

During a Palace briefing on April 25, Margarita Magsaysay, executive director of the DOJ Center for Anti-Online Child Sexual Abuse, explained that children residing in the “poorer side of the country,” or rural areas, were “easy targets” of exploitation.

“[Online sexual abuse of children] is [a] financially lucrative activity, the victims take the bait for around P300, P200 for just showing … nude pictures,” Magsaysay said.

According to NCC, the landmark conviction underscores the judiciary’s commitment to combating crime and highlights its focus on child protection through modern tools.

Remulla, for his part, commended the prosecutors who handled the case for successfully securing the court’s conviction as he warned the perpetrators of online sexual abuse of children.

“For those who cleverly try to use technology to their advantage in abusing the weak by using online platforms to proliferate their criminal acts and exploit the purity of our children, let this be a final warning to you,” he said.

“This government will never waver in its commitment to pursuing those who sexually exploit and abuse the most vulnerable sectors of society,” Remulla added.