Phl vows all-out drive vs child sex abuse online

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government has committed to an all-out campaign against sexual child abuse online, a global malady that is now considered as one of the biggest crimes in the world, Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar said yesterday.

“While the Philippine government finds itself ready and equipped to deal with this social menace, we are aware that this is a war we cannot fight alone,” he said in a statement. “Thus, it must be confronted and defeated through a global effort.”

Salazar, who also heads the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, said he represented Justice Secretary Leila de Lima in the second Minister’s Conference of the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online.

The global alliance, formed in 2012, aims to bind governments to effectively identify and rescue child sexual abuse victims, investigate and prosecute online exploitation offenses, increase public awareness of the risks posed by children’s online activities and reduce the amount of child sexual abuse images available online

Among the specific commitments made by the alliance’s 54 members are empowering law enforcement agencies to gain access to electronic evidence from internet service providers and other repositories of electronic information which are relevant to the investigation and prosecution of offenses related to child sexual abuse. This initiative is to ensure that no nation will become a safe haven for such information, Salazar said.