Barangays, LGUs Dared; Be more active against cyber porn

CEBU, Philippines - The regional social welfare office yesterday challenged the barangay and local government unit levels to be more aggressive in addressing cyber pornography.

Emma Patalinghug, Children’s Welfare specialist from the Department of Social Welfare and Development-7, said the local officials play a huge part in identifying areas of concern.

“There is a need for regular advocacy within the community. The barangay council could organize a watchdog group to monitor their locality for suspected activities. If they find out something, then they can report it to authorities,” Patalinghug said.

She added that the Barangay Council for the Protection of Women and Children should be strengthened and should not just stop in merely existing, and that they should be aware of their important role as key agent in stopping this illegal practice in their locality.

“I dare you to ask the barangay officials what their duties and responsibilities are as members of the BCPC. I doubt if everybody is aware of it. It is in this light that we are concerned that’s why we are challenging these officials,” Patalinghug said.

She reiterated that the Local Government Code provides that the role of the DSWD is providing technical assistance to local government unit which is required to create its own council combating human trafficking.

The Central Visayas social welfare officer recalled that the very first rescue operation in Cordova which placed Cebu and the municipality in the spotlight.

“For Cebu Province, most of the recorded cases were due to rescue operations initiated by national law enforcement agencies like the NBI and the like as well as private organizations. These did not stem from reports from local officials. In fact, there was even a point where local officials question why they were not informed before the operations,” the DSWD official said.

She, however, lauded the Provincial Women and Children’s Commission for closely working with national law enforcement agencies especially in the case of Cordova.

Also, she recognized the cities, municipalities and even barangays which has their own task force on human trafficking but stressed that there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of close monitoring and reporting to law enforcement agencies.

Meanwhile, Patalinghug said the recent data released by Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking that shows that Cebu tops among areas with most convictions affirmed the efforts of state and private organizations in Cebu.

“As far as Region 7 is concerned, we are serious in our fight against trafficking. We have our partners in this battle like the law enforcement agencies and nongovernment organization which work hand in hand,” she said.

While victims of cyber pornography, most of which were minors, are now under DSWD protective custody, Patalinghug said the top priority is to reintegrate these children to relatives. Adoption is the least consideration. –(FREEMAN)