CEBU, Philippines - Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy said they have regular meetings with the barangay captains reminding residents about cyberpornography and there are teams in the barangay responsible for monitoring the said illegal activity.
He made the statement after the National Bureau of Investigation-7 has filed criminal complaints before the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office against the live-in partners accused of exploiting minors to perform lewd acts in front of the camera in Cordova, Cebu.
State Prosecutor Mary Ann Demano said complaints for qualified human trafficking and child pornography were filed against the couple yesterday.
In an inquest proceeding, Demano gave the couple 15 days to file their respective counter-affidavits to answer the allegations against them.
The FREEMAN withheld the names of the couple—an 18-year-old woman and 22-year-old-man, to protect the identities of the minor victims.
Armed with a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Ferdinand Rafanan of Branch 55 in Mandaue City, the NBI on Saturday raided the house of the couple at around 2 p.m. in Barangay Cogon in Cordova town.
The 18-year-old woman was allegedly caught using her mobile phone to take a video of her 10-year-old niece posing naked. Reportedly, the video was intended for a foreign customer.
There were five victims – ages five to 12 years old – rescued and turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for counseling.
Atty. Czar Eric Nuqui, head of the NBI-Anti Trafficking Division in Manila, said that instead of using laptops or desktop computers, violators now used camera phones in their “cyber porn operation” to avoid detection.
Based on reports, the minors posed naked and do lewd acts in front of the camera for monetary consideration.
The 18-year-old woman was traced through an information from the Unites States Department of Homeland Security.
Pending the fiscal’s decision on the complaints, the couple will be temporarily detained at the NBI stockade.
Sitoy said that though barangays Cogon and Ibabao in his town were identified areas that are prone to cyberpornography, they found it difficult to locate the houses of those allowing children to pose naked in front of the camera.
“Ang nakapait lang, naa sulod sa balay. Walay kapabilidad ang mga tanod. Pero kung adunay mahibaw-an ang mga tanod, mu-report gyud na sila sa NBI,” he said.
“Kung istorya ra, ang NBI ang maghatag og surveillance with a foreign decoy involved,” he said since police in Cordova don’t have enough equipment in detecting cyber- pornography activities.
He added the town has been under the US Homeland Security’s watch since 2011.
Sitoy added the town has an ordinance mandating money transfer establishments to report suspicious transactions to the municipal government in relation to cyberpornography.
He said failure to comply means revocation of business permits. There are nine money transfer establishments in Cordova.
After the NBI operation, Cebu Police Provincial Office Director Senior Superintendent Noel Gillamac said there are other people and places doing cyperpornography that they are continuously monitoring in other parts of the province.
That is why the arrest of the live-in partners over the weekend does not make Cordova a cyberporn capital.
He said that the incident is not confined within Cordova only but it also happens in other areas like the calamity-stricken areas in the fourth district of Cebu and other places, especially those that are tourist destinations.
He said that there are incidents in which children are being taken advantaged at by some unscrupulous individuals and sold to pedophiles in the cyberspace, and the root of the situation is poverty on the part of the victims.
“Tanan makita ninyo the point is poverty. Mapugos ang mga tawo aning morally wrong nga buhat,” Gillamac said. — Mylen P. Manto, Bryner L. Diaz, Christell Fatima M. Tudtud/RHM