Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday called on lawmakers to strengthen the country’s anti-trafficking laws to effectively combat online child abuse cases in the country which surged during this time of a COVID-19 pandemic.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, said it is imperative that Congress provides ample protection to children to prevent them from falling victim against online sexual predators.

“Sa kabila ng patuloy na pagtaas ng mga kaso ng pang-aabuso gamit ang internet, kailangan nating paigtingin ang pagbibigay ng proteksyon sa ating mga kabataan at pagharang sa ganitong klaseng mga pang-aabuso (While the number of cases of online abuse is increasing, there’s a need to intensify giving protection to our youth and preventing them from these kind of abuses),” Gatchalian said in a statement.

“Napapanahon nang amyendahan natin ang ating mga batas laban sa human trafficking upang tuluyang masupil ang ganitong uri ng karahasan (It is high time we amend our own laws against human trafficking to fully conquer this kind of violence),” said Gatchalian, who is also seeking re-election in the May 2022 elections.

Gatchalian also cited the role of the Department of Education’s (DepEd’s) Child Protection Program to increase learners’ awareness on OSEC and other forms of violence against children.

Last November 2021, Gatchalian co-sponsored Senate Bill No. 2449 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking Act of 2021. The bill aims to strengthen Republic Act No. 9208, as amended by Republic Act No. 10364, to provide standards and guidelines on surveillance, interception, investigation, and prosecution of different forms of human trafficking.

The measure also increased the roles and responsibilities of businesses such as internet intermediaries, owners and operators of internet cafes, hotspots and kiosks, money transfer and remittance centers, banks, money service businesses, credit card companies, and financial institutions to prevent human trafficking.

It also seeks to reorganize the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to include agencies like the Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Transportation, Department of Tourism, National Council on Disability Affairs, and the Council for the Welfare of Children.

According to Gatchalian, Department of Justice (DOJ) has received 2.8 million reports on online sexual abuse of children in 2021, or more than twice the 1.3 million reported in 2020. But the DOJ’s Office of Cybercrime (OOC) said most of the 2.8 million reports could not be acted upon because these were submitted multiple times, misleading, and erroneously reported.

But in its annual report, the DOJ-OOC said that it has launched an official investigation of 268 cases of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) in 2021, almost four times the 73 cases handled in 2020.

Considering the increasing vulnerability of children to different forms of violence amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Gatchalian said it is urgent for Congress to amend the country’s anti-trafficking laws so authorities can crackdown on OSEC cases, as well as on different forms of human trafficking, more powerfully.