Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles on Saturday called for an investigation by the House on the reported increase in online sexual exploitation of children during the lockdown imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Nograles filed House Resolution 999 in the wake of a report by the Department of Justice’s Office of Cybercrime that 279,166 cases of online sexual exploitation of children were tallied from March 1 to May 24.
This was a 265.63-percent increase from the same period in 2019, where 76,561 cases were reported, he noted.
The DOJ-OOC used data from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in its report.
“I am bothered by this report. Let us pity the children. This is an urgent issue that we need to address,” said Nograles, vice chairman of the House committee on justice.
He bemoaned that Internet service providers have been unable to curb the proliferation of online exploitation due to an inability to install technology that could block access to and distribution of child pornography.
