Secretary Dinky lauds Cebu for drive vs cybercrimes; will help fund shelter for victims

Virginia Palanca-Santiago, LAW Inc. president, addresses the Women’s Congress at the Capitol Social Hall while Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, Secretary Dinky Soliman and Gov. Hilario Davide III listen. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)

Cebu has nothing to be ashamed of,” said Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman yesterday.

After several well-publicized raids against cyberpornography in Cebu since 2011, Soliman said Cebu’s campaign against the Internet-based menace is worth emulating.

“The presence of cyberpornography in Cebu should not leave its people shamefaced,” said Soliman, who spoke during the  14th Women’s Congress held at the Cebu Capitol Social Hall.

“Cebuanos should, instead, be happy that raids and rescue operations have been conducted here. Cebu should be proud that its leaders, in coordination with  concerned sectors, are doing something to curb cybercrimes,” she added.

Soliman described Cebu’s Provincial Women’s Commission (PWC) as the “most active” of its kind in the country.

The breakthrough raid of a household in Cordova town in Mactan Island in 2011 was the  first case of parents caught using their own children to pose and engage in lewd activities in front of a web camera for online customers who paid to watch them.  The complaint was made to the PWC, led by Vice Gov. Agnes Mapgale, who was then a Provincial Board member.

Soliman promised to work for the release of a budget for the construction of a shelter for abused women and children.

No amount was specified but Soliman said the funds would come from the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) headed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

“The Center for Women and Children which the provincial government intends to build will be a place where  rescued victims can find themselves once again after going through a tough ordeal,” Soliman said.

Vice Governor Magpale said she was grateful for the support and looked forward to seeing the center built.

She said that in 2013, there were 114 cases involving abused women and children filed with prosecution officers and trial courts.

A total of 418 victims of violence were given psycho-social services.

Magpale said 14 victims were given shelter and sent to school, while  seven offenders remain in jail pending the outcome of charges filed against them.

Cebu was the first province to have an ordinance establishing the Provincial Women’s Code.

The PWC has conducted information drives about the different forms of cybercrime and their penalties.

Many offenders blame poverty as their reason for engaging in cyberpornography, so PWC has introduced alternative livelihood projects for “dressmaking, meat processing, sewing and soap-making.”

The council also partners with  nongovernmental organizations like the International Justice Mission, Legal Alternatives for Women Inc., Children’s Legal Bureau and the Visayas Forum.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, PWC chairman,  said the campaign will continue to have his full support.

“Let us rally behind the PWC and all its cooperating groups. The fight against cybercrime will continue to be arduous,” the governor said in a brief speech.

Davide said the Women’s Congress shows unity in advancing  women empowerment and gender equality.

“The 48 million Filipinas have matched the Filipino men at 48 million.  Filipinas by their sheer number can be powerful drivers of change. I’ve seen that in the province of Cebu,” he told about 200 women at  the Capitol social hall.

Virginia Palanca-Santiago, president of LAW Center Inc.,  reminded parents of their role to protect their children from abuse.

She discussed features of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, and Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.

While modern technology has its advantages, they also pose stumbling blocks, she said.

“For one, parents should regulate their children’s use of the Internet,” she said.

She pointed out that harmful images, information and contacts can be accessed on line.

“You have an important role to play here. Don’t just depend on authorities to stop cybercrimes. Do your share as well in molding the future of your children,” she said.

“What kind of role model are you parents to your children? Remember, your kids will imitate whatever they see you do,” said Santiago in a speech that was well applauded by the 200 women in the audience.

She said she pitied the children who were exposed to online pornographers.

“Instead of becoming the future of our fatherland, they become future prostitutes,” said Santiago, who retired from her post as assistant  Ombudsman in the Visayas two years ago.

She recalled a project where she and state university representatives approached  prostituted girls in Cebu City to offer them alternative work.

“We talked to two minors,” she said, and offered to train them in making rugs which they could sell.

“But sadly, they told us, ‘Ma’am, yes we’ll earn P200 in making rugs but we get P1,000 or P2,000 every night working as prostitutes,” Santiago said.

She said money is not the root of evil but “greed for money” is what draws people to engage in illegal activities including cyberpornography.

They mistakenly believe there’s no harm done and that they “don’t lose anything” because there’s no physical contact with clients.

“But that’s not actually the case. To me, it won’t matter if you’re poor as long as you keep your dignity intact. You can walk with your head held high. We should instill the value of integrity and morality,” she said.

Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy, a panelist in yesterday’s congress, said the high-profile raids in his municipality occur not because Cordova is the  center of cyberpornography in the province, but because offenders in the coastal town are easy to apprehend.

“The US Department of Homeland Security told me that some houses in Cordova are a bit far from each other so it’s easy for law enforcers to raid them. In other areas, houses are built close together so when the raiding party is about to arrive, neighbors alert the subjects by giving signals to stop their  illegal activity operations so they won’t get arrested,” Sitoy explained.

He said arrests were difficult because the illegal activity is done in the privacy of homes.  Search warrants have to be secured first from the courts before law enforcers can enter households.

Cordova is implementing Cebu  province’s Money Transfer Ordinance to address the payment system used in the proliferation of cyberpornography.

He said the ordinance which adopts a “Know Your Customer” policy, requires remittance firms to submit a monthly report on the number of their clients and suspicious transactions.

“Only actual recipients of the money can claim the amount. Their pictures, thumb marks, why money has been sent to them, among other details are necessary,” he said.

While some quarters oppose the policy, no one has gone to court to challenge it.

“Poverty is not the reason people engage in cyberpornography. It’s their desire for easy money that encourages them to do so,” Sitoy said.

In 2011, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation arrested a married couple in Cordova, who used their six children and a niece in cyberpornography.

The couple are in jail in Mandaue City and facing non-bailable charges of human trafficking in court.

The NBI and the police conducted  other raids in Cordova which resulted in the arrest of suspects and the rescue of exploited children.