Marcos wants online child sex abuse stopped

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos wants the elimination of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children to be his legacy as he regards the crime, whose youngest victim in the country is a three-month-old infant, as “unFilipino,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said yesterday.

DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano IV said Marcos was “visibly distressed, very bothered and clearly stressed” when presented with information about online sexual abuse and exploitation of children and the materials used to commit them during a meeting last Wednesday in Malacañang.

The “alarming” figures prompted Marcos to issue a “very strong” directive to the DOJ, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other law enforcement agencies to further intensify the efforts against the unlawful activities.

“When we gave him (Marcos) the operational details of the crime, he really said, ‘I will leave behind many legacies in the Philippines but if I have to choose just one legacy... after this administration, this would be it,’” Clavano said.

“We hope by the end of his term, we will completely phase out this crime because, as he said, it is very unFilipino-like to do this. So let’s go back to our real culture, which is family. But when it comes to crime like this, you are using your child to rake in small sums. That is disturbing,” he added.

Clavano described online sexual abuse and exploitation of children as a “family-based crime,” with biological parents facilitating the abuse of 41 percent of the victims and other relatives doing the same for another 42 percent of the children.

“His directive is to further intensify these efforts, to further look into how we can come up with a holistic solution. Because this cannot only be done by whole-of-government approach, but  (by) whole-of-nation approach, which includes the private sector, the social media platforms where these crimes usually occur,” he added.

Marcos, Clavano said, has also instructed the DOJ to intensify talks with Facebook and to remind the social media giant of its obligations under the law.

A study conducted in 2022 by the United Nations Children’s Fund, ECPAT International and Interpol indicated that 20 percent