School, 2 more tagged as sex chat hubs

MANILA, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided a Christian school in Muntinlupa and two buildings in Quezon City Monday night after they were found to house sex chat hubs that feature child pornography.

Thirty people, mostly men, were arrested in the simultaneous raids. They pretended to be female, chatting with clients seeking pornographic material on the Internet.

They would receive commissions if they convince clients to register with pornographic websites, some of them featuring children, according to head agent Ronald Aguto of the NBI’s cybercrime division.

They were charged with violating Republic Act 9775, the anti-child pornography law; and Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code, which bars obscene publications.

Aguto identified the sex chat hubs as Mountaintop Christian Academy in Tunasan, Muntinlupa; a unit at the M11 Building on Congressional Avenue and an apartment at the RJM Building, both in Quezon City.

The M11 Building hub is at the fourth floor of the building, which is better known for its Christian worship area on its third floor.

Ferdinand Abejon, the alleged operator of the three hubs, denied any illegal activity in their operation.

Night ops

The Muntinlupa school, which offers pre-school to high school education, has about 200 students, Aguto said.

Classes in the two-story school building are held from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Once the students leave at around 5 p.m., around 50 persons would go to two rooms at the school’s ground floor to start operating the sex chat hub.

When NBI agents raided the school at around 11 p.m., they found 47 computers with pre-recorded pornographic videos, some of them featuring minors. Eight men were caught operating some of these computer units.

Principal and school owner Purisima Martinez said the rooms were leased for P20,000 a month or P10,000 each room.

She claimed she seldom checked the rooms and was “not aware” of the operations, but added that she was told the “chatting” would be “naughty.”

The NBI said it found that the school’s license had been revoked and it is trying to find out whether some of its students were used as “models” for the hub’s pornographic videos.

The Department of Education (DepEd), meanwhile, condemned the reported child pornography operation in the Muntinlupa school.

“The DepEd, as a learner-centered institution, condemns any practice that puts students in danger. Schools, public or private, should be safe havens for students and not places where illegal activities take place,” it said in a statement.             – With Helen Flores