The ice in Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza’s note was more than noticeable when she remarked about a proposal by Cordova Councilor Angeles Gairanod to Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy to require money transfer firms to report suspicious remittances to the local government.
“To Councilor Gairanod, ok na sila sa Cordova? Kay motan-aw naman siya sa laing lugar? (are they okay in Cordova? Because he’s looking at other places),” Radaza said.
The retort was aimed more at Gairanod’s proposal for Lapu-Lapu City and other Metro Cebu local government units to enact a similar ordinance requiring the disclosure of suspicious money transfers in order to dry up the cash flow between local “service providers” and their clients, the predatory foreigners who feast on online cyberpornography especially sites involving minors.
The mayor is usually on the defensive when it comes to cyberpornography and we can understand why. Lapu-Lapu City is home to white sand beaches, first-class business centers and resorts,the island’s golden mile of tourism that attracts foreign and balikbayan guests.
In last Wednesday’s press conference, the mayor said she instructed Lapu-Lapu City police to monitor the movement of suspected cyberporn activity in Cordova town to prevent perpetrators from bringing their trade to the city.
Right there she acknowledged that Cordova town is a hot spot of cyberpornography in the province, a fact confirmed by the Philippine National Police.
But it’s not as if Lapu-Lapu City is clean.
Child and women advocacy groups have reported to her that the menace is operating there too.
The abuse takes place across the country, in the privacy of homes of operators and families out to make easy money through the Internet.
We recall iIn 2011, a couple supposedly engaged in selling nude photos of the wife to foreign online customers for a fee.
Their scam was uncovered when one of the customers asked to meet the woman in person. After this, Mayor Paz Radaza told a former police chief to monitor the Internet cafés for any sign of cyberporn activity, eventually replacing him with Senior Supt. Lyndon Lawas.
Despite Radaza’s poor view of Gairanod’s proposal as meddling, local government units in Cebu should set aside their differences and petty bickering to come up with a united front in the campaign against cyberpornography.
The identification of Cordova town as a cyberporn hot spot should give reason for LGUs not to spite their neighbor but to consider the proposal requiring disclosure of suspicious cash transfers as a possible key to sabotage the lucrative, yet utterly dehumanizing cyberporn trade.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
