PRRD approves measures vs. online child exploitation

Department Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said President Duterte has recently approved several measures the DOJ has recommended on how the government can  crackdown on online sexual child exploration.

One of the recommendations, he said is to direct the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to impose sanctions on internet service providers for failure to fulfill their duties under Republic Act 9775 or Anti-Child Pornography Act.

He said the DOJ also recommended the issuance by the President of an executive order (EO) “strengthening cooperation” among the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), the Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography (IACACP) and other relevant agencies.

Guevarra likewise shared that they recommended to the President to certify as priority the passage of bills “amending the anti-trafficking in persons act, so that human trafficking, particularly sexual exploitation of children, will be exempt from the provisions of the anti-wire tapping law.”

“We’ll draft the EO and request other relevant agencies to comment. This may take at least two months,” he told media.

Guevarra earlier said they would ask for a copy of the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s (AMLC) report on remittances from online child pornography in the country that it said reached PHP113 million.