Cyberporn trade runs deep in the community
Residents use Cebuano slang words coined for the act of showing male and female genitals online.
That’s one sign of how deep rooted cyberpornogrpahy is in barangay Ibabao, Cordova town.
On the day one household in sitio Sung-ok was raided by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for operating as a cyberporn den, a text message was quickly passed around the community alerting everyone to switch off their computers and devices.
Hints of the culture in the former fishing village that has hosted the illegal activity for years were shared in a dialog yesterday with Cebu province officials who visited the neighborhood to explore options for alternative livelihood.
Julbert Bentulan, the barangay secretary, told visitors that the illegal online trade in the sitio started in 2000 and that residents had specific phrases for different acts performed for online voyeurs.
The village chief Chito Bentazal was not around yesterday for the visit.
Provincial Social Welfare Development Office (PSWDO) chief Evelyn Senajon and members of the Provincial Women’s Commission (PWC).
Senajon was sent by Cebu Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale who met the PWC yesterday morning to discuss plans to provide livelihood options for residents.
Bentulan said the 300 households of upper and lower sitio Sung-ok used to depend on fishing and making “helba,” a rope used for the manufcature of furniture and house decor as their livelihood.
“They just earned P100 from making helba in a day’s work,” he said in Cebuano.
He said some started to abandon the low-income livelihood when neighbors introduced online pornography.
One can easily earn up to $500 or close to P20,000 per session, he said.
The pay depends on the lewdness of the acts performed.
He said some foreign customers pay more if the online show involves “younger children.”
“That is the reason parents involve their kids. Mangita man ang mga foreigner ug mga bata,” he said. (The foreigners look for children.)
He said some foreigners prefer bestial sexual acts and pay more for this.
Payments are done through overseas money transfer services that have shops in Cordova.
Betulan showed Cebu Daily News sex toys that were sent by a customer from the United States to one of the performers living in sitio Sung-ok.
He said the box of sex toys was delivered to the wrong house which caused commotion in the neighborhood.
The recipient of the box filed a complaint with the barangay.
“Ana na gyud na sa Sung-ok. Mura sila ug lahi nga barangay kay magtinabangay man sa ilang binuhatan,” he said.
(That’s what Sung-ok has become. It’s as if they are a separate barangay because the people there support each other in this activity.)
He said the barangay has exerted efforts to rehabilitate residents and that 15 families underwent a three-day counseling in a resort in Cordova in cooperation with a Norwegian NGO this year.
“Naa man mga nagbag-o. Uban kay namalik ra sad,” he said.
(Some have reformed. Some have gone back to the trade.)
Sitio Sung-ok is the same neighborhood that the NBI raided in June 1, 2011. Agents arrested a married couple and rescued their five minor children and a niece who were made to strip and perform for online pedophiles in a cyberporn operation based in their home.
The case for qualified human trafficking is now pending in court.
A second raid in July 2011 took place in barangay Cogon, Cordova.
A mother was arrested for using a neighbor’s house as a studio to let her daughters, aged eight, nine, and a 15-year-old cousin to strip and dance in front of a web camera.
Senajon together with officials from the Department of Social Welfare and Development will meet again on June 3 to visit sitio Sung-ok for a dialog with other residents.
