EU supports Tri-City Justice Zone in fight against OSAEC and CSAEM

MANILA, Philippines — The efforts of three cities in Northern Mindanao to combat online child sexual abuse and exploitation (OSAEC) and the distribution of child sexual abuse or exploitation material (CSAEM) have been supported by the European Union (EU) through its programme aimed at improving justice sector coordination within the territories.

According to the EU, the Governance in Justice (GOJUST) programme works with national agencies such as the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior and Local Government and the Supreme Court “to develop more responsive and accountable justice services in the country.”

The three cities that called themselves the Tri-City Justice Zone are Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City and Ozamiz City. The launch was led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos.

READ: Online sexual abuse flourishes not just in families but in communities – study

“The Tri-City Justice Zone will strengthen this determination to combat these crimes with all the means at our disposal,” Remulla said in a statement issued by the EU on Monday.

“However, the fight against OSAEC and CSAEM affects all of us, in our neighborhoods, schools, online spaces, and everything in between,” he added.

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Ana Sanchez Ruiz, Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to the Philippines, for her part, stressed their “long-term support to justice sector reform initiatives that improve access to justice for the most vulnerable.”

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“The fight against sexual abuse and exploitation in all its forms, in this case more specifically of children, is a shared priority of the European Union and the Philippines,” she added.

Other Justice Zones are:

• Port of Princesa
• Day group
• Quezon City
• Cebu
• Angels
• Davao
• Bacolod
• Naga
• Kalamba
• Balanga
• Baguio
• Zamboanga

According to the EU, these zones started in 2014.

Cities that are part of it are ‘designed’ to coordinate through justice sector actors such as courts, police, prisons and civil society.

Based on reports, the recently approved Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 promotes coordination of the justice sector “to improve the efficiency and accountability of the sector and achieve sustainable reforms.”

According to the plan, new justice zones will be opened every year during this period.