Law against cyber sex trafficking pushed

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Liza Maza urged President Arroyo yesterday to certify as urgent legislative proposals aimed at curbing violence against women and children, especially those that target sex trafficking through the Internet.

Maza revealed the menace of Internet sites which allegedly sell Filipinas to foreigners.

"The Internet has become a convenient marketplace for Filipina flesh," Maza told a forum on the "Voices of Women against Violence Against Women." "More and more women and even children are falling prey to the flesh trade because of poverty as well as the lack of measures protecting them."

She said legislators should move quickly to address the matter, noting that syndicates have become more ingenious, using e-mails, the Internet and cellular phone networks to export Filipina brides who end up abroad as sex slaves.

She also urged the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency to take concrete steps to ban foreign groups which export Filipinas as brides to foreigners. – Romel Bagares