The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested two sisters
who allegedly ran a cybersex and child pornography operation at their
home in Dasmariñas, Cavite, where they exploited over a dozen
children, including a two-month-old boy.
Elvie and Arlene Aringo were arrested on Thursday after a tracking
operation that dragged on for two years because the suspects
frequently changed their social media accounts in dealing with foreign
clients, an NBI official said.
Apart from engaging in cybersex activities catering to foreigners
since 2014, the Aringo siblings also offered minors for sex, according
to Janet Francisco, chief of the NBI’s antihuman trafficking division.
Francisco noted that when the NBI acted on the information provided by
the US Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (USHSI-ICE) that a woman in Cavite was offering underaged
girls for sex, the siblings had closed a P20,000 deal with undercover
agents for two girls.
Four of the 13 minors used by the siblings were their own children,
including Elvie’s two-month-old son. Elvie would send pictures of the
naked boy online, charging clients $50 or around P2,500 each,
Francisco said.
The Aringos are facing charges for violating the Cybercrime Prevention
Act, the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation
and Discrimination Act; and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
The rescued minors were placed in the custody of the Department of
Social Welfare and Development.
Ransom Avilla, legal attache of USHSI-ICE, said the agency was closely
coordinating with Philippine authorities to track down and arrest the
sisters’ clients.