Marcos vows more action to stop child abuse

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday reiterated his administration’s commitment to ending online child sexual abuse and exploitation (OSAEC) in the country.

Speaking at the summit “Iisang Nasyon, Iisang Aksyon: Tapusin ang Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (Osaec) Ngayon” in Makati City, Marcos became emotional as he witnessed former victims of cybersex crimes reliving their hellish experiences.

“That we are allowing this to happen in our country brings with it an overwhelming sense of shame, because we are in government, in the public service, and we are not doing enough. We need to do more,” the chief executive said.

Chairman Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“It is child sexual abuse and exploitation. And I leave it to your imagination, and I imagine in some cases your imagination cannot even fathom what is being done to these poor children,” he added.

The latest data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) shows that 1,099 victims were rescued during 237 operations, 138 suspects were arrested, 139 charges were filed and 41 perpetrators were convicted.

“It’s a terrible statistic. We cannot allow this to continue. We will not allow this to continue. This is a terrible scourge of online child sexual abuse or exploitation that is still rampant in our country today,” the president said. “A sad reality is that many of the perpetrators are the families or relatives of the victims — the very people we expect to care for them,” he added.