MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has urged a comprehensive national effort to foster a safer online environment for Filipino children. This call to action was highlighted during the launch of this year’s Safer Internet Day (SID), organized by the DOJ’s National Coordination Center against Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (NCC-OSAEC-CSAEM).
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla emphasized the need for extended collaboration to ensure justice in digital realms, stating, “Real justice for all is never limited to physical spaces but extends to the bounds of cyberspace, may this occasion be the mark of our stronger collaboration towards creating a safer internet for all.”
Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty, responsible for the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), stressed the significance of SID in promoting digital safety and responsible internet usage. He pointed out the critical issue of underreporting, which remains a major challenge in child safety and crimes against children. Ty noted that factors such as shame, fear, and a lack of awareness about rights and access to justice contribute to this problem.
He further explained that children often do not recognize when they are being victimized, and sometimes, the perpetrators are their own family members, which adds to the barriers in reporting to authorities. The Council for the Welfare of Children reported that 41% of online sexual abuse facilitators are parents, and 42% are other relatives, underscoring the severity of the issue.
Ty encouraged victims and witnesses of online child sexual exploitation to report incidents, assuring them of government support. He also highlighted the emerging threat of AI-generated images being used as materials for online sexual abuse or exploitation.
Globe Senior Director Carlo Bernardo Santos revealed that they have blocked nearly 4,000 domains and URLs associated with child pornography by 2024, and are now also addressing the influx of AI-generated images.
Barbara Mae Pagdilao-Flores, OIC Executive Director of NCC-OSAEC-CSAEM, mentioned ongoing efforts to establish guidelines for a registry of child sex offenders and blacklisted aliens, aiming to finalize these within the year. She noted that the Bureau of Immigration continues to prevent known sex offenders from entering the country.
This year’s SID, themed “Digital Bayanihan, Para sa Kabataang Ligtas at Protektado Online,” is a month-long event promoting cooperation among government, civil society, and the private sector to enhance online safety. The celebration, which began in 2004 under the EU SafeBorders project, is observed globally in about 180 countries. In the Philippines, SID has been an annual event since Proclamation 417 was issued in February 2018.