Bakit nga ba patuloy na tumataas ang bilang ng child exploitation sa bansa?

4/7/2025

Bakit nga ba patuloy na tumataas ang bilang ng child exploitation sa bansa?

For more news, visit:
►https://www.ptvnews.ph/

Subscribe to our DailyMotion Channel:
►http://www.dailymotion.com/peoples-television-incorporated

Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
►http://www.youtube.com/ptvphilippines

Like our Facebook pages:
►PTV: http://facebook.com/PTVph
►Rise and Shine Pilipinas: https://www.facebook.com/riseandshinepilipinas

Follow us on Twitter:
►http://twitter.com/PTVph

Follow us on Instagram:
►https://www.instagram.com/ptvph

Watch our livestream on:
►http://ptvnews.ph/livestream/
►https://www.dailymotion.com/PTVPhilippines

Watch our News Programs, every Mondays to Fridays

Rise and Shine Pilipinas - 6:00 - 7:00 am | 7:30 - 8:00 am
Balitang Pambansa - 7:00 - 7:30 am | 12:00 - 12:30 pm |
6:00 - 6:30pm | 9:30 - 10:00 pm
PTV Sports - 8:00 - 9:00 am
Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon - 12:30 - 1:00 pm
Sentro Balita - 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Ulat Bayan - 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm
PTV News Tonight - 10:00 pm - 10:30 pm

Saturday & Sunday:
►Sentro Balita Weekend - 1:30 - 2:00 pm
►Ulat Bayan Weekend - 6:15 pm - 7:00 pm

Transcript

00:00In the Philippines, online exploitation of children is an issue that is becoming more and more common.

00:07In spite of the laws, why is it that the number of victims of child exploitation is increasing?

00:15And for this, we have with us, Cheng Veniles,

00:19the National Program Officer of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Program on Cybercrime.

00:25And also joining us today is the Regional Counter-Cybercrime Coordinator of UNODC,

00:32of Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Dr. Joshua James.

00:36Good morning, and welcome here at Rise and Shine Philippines. Good morning.

00:39Good morning.

00:40All right, Dr. Joshua, let's discuss the situation in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

00:44So based on your data, we want to know how many recorded cases involve the exploitation of children.

00:50So that's a really hard metric to actually get down exact.

00:54Okay. Because this type of crime is historically really under-reported because of the amount of shame

01:00and the fact that it deals with children and children aren't really willing to come out.

01:04So we use two different metrics.

01:06One is the actual reports to police, which we expect to be very low compared to what the reality is.

01:12And the next is online reports of different types of content that are found.

01:17We don't necessarily know if that's been reported to police.

01:24Here in the Philippine context, Ms. Cheng,

01:27how many are the cases of online exploitation of children here in the Philippines?

01:33Actually, if you look at our numbers, in 2022,

01:37there's research that says there were about 500,000 Filipino children that have been abused online.

01:44But of those 500,000, since the law was enacted in 2022,

01:48RA 11930 on Anti-Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children,

01:54our data shows that there are about 769 cases filed.

01:59Of those 769, 900 are victims.

02:05So the estimates of the cases are a bit far because, as he mentioned earlier,

02:10reporting is really hard.

02:12Okay, we understand, we try to quantify maybe some of the number of cases in terms of online,

02:19or in terms of the crime reported on the police blotters,

02:22and among all the different kinds of cases online.

02:25We want to know if you have also done research about the reasons behind the exploitation of children.

02:34Sure. I mean, the exploitation of children is normally very opportunistic.

02:39So first off, opportunity exists, and the internet and connectivity of the internet

02:45makes a lot more opportunities for people that are interested to attempt to reach out to children.

02:50So another statistic that we have is that we're seeing a lot more active engagement,

02:54people looking for children.

02:56This is also increasing every year where children are having more access online,

03:01people are actually looking to engage with them where they're at.

03:04So for example, inside video games, inside chat rooms, and things like that.

03:08In relation to that, what steps are the UN taking to combat this child exploitation?

03:16The first definitely is awareness, making especially parents aware that their children

03:21could be targeted online and make sure that they know how to at least talk to their children about these things.

03:28And then of course, we work very closely with law enforcement on how to do the investigations,

03:32how to find where people are trying to solicit children, for example,

03:37or convince them to interact with them.

03:41How about here in the Philippines?

03:42Because we understand that last year, even our president, Bongbong Marcos,

03:48he really said a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to children exploitation.

03:53And I also know former DILG Secretary Ben Arabalos,

03:58he was also the one who advocated anti-online sexual abuse of exploitation of children, or OSAIC.

04:05Here in the Philippines, what other measures is the government taking to address this issue, Ma'am Cheng?

04:13Actually, the best thing here is that the Philippines is one of the leaders in Southeast Asia

04:18in terms of addressing OSAIC, mainly because we have a very good law.

04:23And then, as Dr. James said earlier, many of our colleagues in the government,

04:29the private sector, and international organizations have been working together

04:33to really address the case, the issues on OSAIC.

04:36So, it's good that we should look at it, because everyone is trying to learn from each other.

04:42And then, because of this, the work of each one of us becomes easier to address OSAIC.

04:49For Dr. Joshua also, we want to know, how could the parents,

04:53maybe you could give advice to the parents here in the Philippines and abroad,

04:58how could the parents prevent this exploitation of children?

05:03I mean, just realize that your children now have access to everyone in the world, right?

05:09So, the best thing that a parent can do is have those active conversations,

05:13make sure they're building a relationship, and make sure they talk to their kids about

05:16what are they actually doing online.

05:18And don't be judgmental about things that happen, because mistakes can always happen.

05:24And if your children feel comfortable to come and speak to you,

05:28then whenever something bad happens, they can actually come to you, rather than hiding it.

05:32Because hiding it is what makes the problem so much worse.

05:36Maybe because the parents should really feel what their children is,

05:41what situation or what is happening with their children as of the moment.

05:45Because I myself, I mean, not really myself, but I have some friends who are already parents,

05:51and their sons or daughters have experienced this.

05:54So, you know, it's a matter of, they're telling us that maybe I should be more close to my children.

06:02So, I think that's one way, based on what Dr. Joshua said.

06:05Alright, lastly, what message would you give to the public,

06:09especially to the parents and their children? Let's start with Dr.

06:12Actually, if you're a father, it's super important that you're teaching your kids how to model

06:19what loving looks like, what respectful, healthy relationships look like,

06:24so that children don't find time to go on the internet

06:27and do stuff that they would not be happy to learn about at a later time.

06:31So, that's one thing.

06:33Second, we should be building a lot more relationships in the community

06:38because if we're trying to look out for each other,

06:40it's a little bit healthier for us to be on the net and outside of it as well.

06:45I know, actually, we can see the hotlines also online.

06:48I mean, here in our visuals, so that we can contact anytime

06:52if there are any cases of expropriation for children.

06:56Sir, your advice as well.

06:58So, technology, it can bring us together, but it also does isolate us

07:02and kind of put us in our corners.

07:03So, I would say, spend more time with your kids and build that relationship.

07:07That is always going to make things better.

07:09On that note, thank you very much for your time once again,

07:12Chang Vanillas and Dr. Joshua James from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Con.

07:18Salamat.

07:19Thank you both.

Bakit nga ba patuloy na tumataas ang bilang ng child exploitation sa bansa?

Category

Transcript

Recommended