Philippines
National
Council on sexual abuse, exploitation of children to set up hotline for complaints -- DOJ
Council on sexual abuse, exploitation of children to set up hotline for complaints -- DOJ
The National Coordinating Council on Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitaiton of Children (NCC-OSAEC) has a plan to set up a hotline for victims and members of their families to air their complaints, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Monday, Jan. 15.
DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic F. Clavano IV said during PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon the plan was discussed by the NCC-OSAEC during its first regular meeting held last December.
“Ang napag-usapan nila sa first regular meeting nila ay ‘yung mga milestones na gusto nilang makuha (They talked about in their first regular meeting the milestones they want to achieve),” Clavano said.
“‘Yung unang-una d’yan ay ‘yung hotline kung saan pwede magcomplain or tumawag ‘yung mga kamag-anak, kaibigan ng mga victims ng online sexual abuse or exploitation of children (Foremost among these is the setting up of a hotline where complaints can be made by the relatives or friends of the victims of online sexual abuse or exploitation of children),” he said.
Through the hotline, “makukuha natin ang pulso ng bayan (we can get the pulse of the people),” he also said.
“Makikita natin kung ano ‘yung status ng mga nangyayari na sexual abuse and exploitation ng mga bata natin sa Pilipinas at magagawan na rin ng paraan dahil ibabato na ‘yan ‘yung complaints sa coordinating council mismo (We will see the status of OSAEC in the country and do something about it because the coordinating council is receiving the complaints directly),” he said.
Clavano noted that the NCC-OSAEC is a new body as he recounted that OSAEC cases were previously handled by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
“So we really hope that with the NCC-OSAEC in place makita na natin ‘yung dulo ng problema na ito na nakita natin nag-spike noong pandemic (we will see the light at the end of the tunnel concerning the problem which spiked during the pandemic),” he said.
"Marami na tayong nakitang kaso nung nasa IACAT pa ‘yung OSAEC (we already saw a lot of cases when the IACAT was still handling OSAEC),” he also said.
“All the cases have been endorsed. Hundreds of cases have been endorsed from IACAT Secretariat to the NCC-OSAEC which now has its own executive director,” he added.