EDITORIAL - What's wrong with Cordova?

What is wrong with Cordova? Why is it gaining notoriety as the haven of cyberporn in Cebu? Whenever the authorities make any arrests in connection with cyberporn, it seems they are always in Cordova. Over the past few days alone, two separates were made there.

As bad as cyberporn already is, it is made worse when those involved are parents peddling their very own children. And when parents are involved in the peddling of their own children, the reflection it creates of the community they live in is something to be ashamed of.

What have the government officials of Cordova been doing? Where have the pillars of Cordova society been looking? It's not as if the issue of cyberporn is something that happened only once in that town. In other words, the leaders of the town cannot feign ignorance of the problem.

Word spreads around. And with such a small area for word to circulate (Cordova is the smallest local government unit in Cebu province), it should not be too difficult for the leaders of the town to get wind of who are engaged in this modern day sex scourge.

The people of Cordova should not be lulled into complacency by the mistaken notion that children used in cyberporn are protected from physical contact by sheer distance -- after all, they just perform before a camera for viewing by a pervert in some faraway land.

What they probably have not appreciated is the fact that children are not only introduced to a crime, they are gradually being made numb and callous to social misbehaviors. They are being told, by deed, that what is wrong is actually right.

By doing absolutely nothing about cyberporn, the government officials of Cordova -- all of them, from elected officials to employees of such agencies as DSWD, DOH, DepEd, etc. -- as well as the leaders of its society such as priests and professionals all share the blame in slowly creating monsters of their children.

To be sure, it is good that arrests are being made. But what everyone in Cordova should strive for is the day when no more arrests happen -- not because the perpetrators have grown more wily, or that officials have remained callous -- because the problem has been defeated once and for all.