President Marcos condemned "in the strongest of terms" the crimes of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines, and ordered agencies to "show no mercy" to offenders.
Marcos on Thursday, April 25, said they are "determined to protect our children and show no mercy to offenders in eradicating all forms of child abuse."
"President Marcos condemned in the strongest of terms the crimes of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) and child sexual abuse and exploitation materials (CSAEM) in the Philippines," Malacañang press briefer Daphne Oseña-Paez said in a Palace briefing on Thursday.
Paez added that during the meeting on Wednesday, the President was "very very alarmed and very very disturbed," prompting him to order the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other agencies in the national coordinating center to intensify the fight against OSAEC and CSAEM.
DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano IV also said that Marcos was "visibly distressed" with the information relayed to him during the meeting.
"Yesterday at the meeting, the President was visibly distressed, very bothered and clearly stressed with the information that was relayed to him, which is why he gave a very strong directive to the DOJ, to the PNP, and other law enforcement agencies to further intensify the efforts," Clavano said.
The President also directed the DILG and PNP to intensify the monitoring of cases locally and abroad and have increased presence in communities.
Moreover, he told the DOJ and PNP to "come down on perpetrators with the full weight of the law" and directed the DSWD and other agencies to streamline and improve the process of investigation to make sure that the children are protected and families are properly reintegrated.
He asked the DOJ to intensify talks with Facebook and to remind them of their obligations under the law, citing that some of these crimes happen on the social networking site.
He also ordered further collaboration between the private sector and internet service providers on a local and global scale and an awareness campaign in schools and communities.
'Poverty is not an excuse'
Malacañang noted that there are many drivers of this crime, including poverty, easy and unsupervised access to the internet and online payment portals, and prevailing social norms such as "no touch, no harm" or "it's just a webcam," and English being widely spoken.
The President, however, pointed out that poverty is not an excuse to hurt and abuse children, and called on families to safeguard their children against online sexual abuses.
"Though poverty is one of the biggest drivers of this crime, the President did say yesterday that poverty is not an excuse to hurt children at nanawagan siya sa mga pamilya na bantayan ang mga bata dahil for him talagang walang crime na mas malaki than this (and he is calling on families to look after their children because for him there is no bigger crime than this)," Paez said.
"OSAEC is an egregious form of violence against children. It is a borderless and hidden crime, it happens mostly in the home and is likely facilitated by trusted guardians and sometimes parents," Paez also said.
In 2016, the Philippines emerged as the center of child sex abuse materials production in the world based on a study done by United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
In 2022, a study conducted by UNICEF, ECPAT International, and Interpol showed that 20 percent of internet-using Filipino children aged 12 to 17 or two million children were victimized by OSAEC.
Additionally, 23 to 38 percent of the children who are victims do not tell anyone about the harm being done to them.