Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan of Bicol Saro party-list called on local government units (LGUs) to mount a united front against the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) by establishing their respective community-based programs and adopting ordinances aimed at ending these crimes.
Yamsuan said the fight against OSAEC should be taken to the barangay level to further bolster joint efforts by the government and the private sector to keep Filipino children safe and protected from abuse.
Yamsuan, a former assistant secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), reminded LGUs that under Republic Act 11930 or the Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) And Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation (CSAEM) Act, the sanggunians or LGU councils are mandated to pass ordinances that aim to localize the fight against perpetrators of these “abominable crimes against our children.”
“We should further strengthen our efforts to put an end to this societal menace that violate the rights of children, destroy their dignity, and leave them emotionally scarred for life. We urge our LGUs to bring our fight against the sexual abuse of children, whether online or offline, down to the community level,” Yamsuan said.
Yamsuan issued the call after a graphic artist for Disney and Pixar studios, Bouhalem Bouchiba, was sentenced by a court in France to 25 years in jail for complicity in the rape of hundreds of preteen girls in the Philippines. Bouchiba was also found guilty of human trafficking and viewing of child pornography online.
