Mandaue dads push measure vs cyberporn

MONEY remittance centers in Mandaue City will soon be required to submit reports to the city government on suspicious transactions which may be relates to illegal activities like cyberpornography.

A proposed ordinance by Councilor Cynthia Cinco Remedio and Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna has passed first reading in the Mandaue City Council.

Remedio and Fortuna said that remittance systems, or money or value transfer businesses may be used as a conduit for illegal activities such as fraud and extortion, human trafficking and sexual exploitation, among others.

“Enhancing measures to safeguard the rights of women and children is of paramount importance to combat child abuse and cyberpornography, it shall be made an obligation on the part of money transfer businesses to know their customers by requiring them to present accurate and pertinent information,” read the proposed ordinance.

The proposal came after Mandaue City saw its first ever reported case of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) last May.

A mother was arrested after making her 15-year-old daughter do a live sex show online. While it was the first ever reported case, it was found out that the mother has been doing this to her daughter for five or six years already.

Back then, Fortuna announced that among the city’s plans to combat OSEC cases is to pass this ordinance which is patterned from that of Cordova town.

Under their proposed ordinance, money or value transfer businesses shall require their customers to present a valid Identification Card and to keep copies of customer references and identification for at least five years.

They should also identify “suspicious transactions” and the beneficiaries to any possible extent.