The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, Feb. 15, urged parents to ensure that their children are kept safe from the dangers lurking in their use of the internet.

“Everything starts at home,” declared Justice Undersecretary Nicolas Felix L. Ty during an interview on PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

Ty, the undersecretary-in-charge of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), pointed out “sana ang magulang maging aware sa mga dangers sa internet (I hope parents become aware of the dangers in the internet).”

“Madaming peligro sa mga kabataan natin na nan d’yan (There are many dangers against our children there),” said Ty.

“Minsan hindi natin nakikita, iniisip natin napakainosente pero maaari mangyari ‘yan (Sometimes we can’t see these things and we think it is so innocent but it may happen),” he warned. 

On the other hand, the undersecretary lamented there are instances where the parents themselves subject their children to online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).

“Sana naman ang practice na ‘to ay matigil na, sana mas maging aware ang mga magulang na huwag gawin ito (I hope parents should stop this kind of practice and become more aware not to do this),” Ty said.

“Bukod sa criminal ito, ito ay nakakasama talaga sa mga kabataan (Apart from being a criminal offense, it’s effect is bad for the children),” he pointed out.

He assured that the government relentlessly exerts efforts to fight OSAEC.

He noted that “madami na kaming mga magulang na napakulong dahil sa krimen na ito (we have jailed a lot of parents for this crime).”

He then expressed gratitude to foreign governments which have been part of the Philippines’ efforts in fighting OSAEC.

“Dahil nga sa koordinasyon sa foreign law enforcement madami na tayong nasalbang bata at madami na tayong napasagot na mga perpetrators dito sa Pilipinas (Because of this coordination with foreign law enforcement we have been able to rescue many children and brought to justice perpetrators of the crime),” he said.

He explained that OSAEC is a cross-border crime.

“Ang typical modus dito ay may foreign sexual predator o may foreign na pedophile na nais maghanap ng mabibiktima at ang nakokotak nila ay ang mga magulang o kamag-anak ng mga kabataang Filipino (The typical modus is that a foreign sexual predator or pedophile who is on the lookout for victims contacts the parents or relatives of these children),” he said. 

“So malaking tulong dito ang coordination sa foreign law enforcement dahil ang foreign law enforcement sila ang nagbibigay ng mga referral sa atin ng mga potential kaso dito (So, it really helps that there is foreign law enforcement coordination because they give us the referrals for these cases),” he added.