By: Tamara Morrigan Catada

"Urgent action is always needed when it comes to protecting our children," said Senator Risa Hontiveros as she welcomes the passage of Republic Act No. 11930 or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Children (OSAEC) Law.

The lady senator authored and sponsored the bill, which lapsed into law on Saturday.

"Napakasaya ko na sa wakas ay naisabatas na ang Anti-OSAEC Law. Mas dumami ang exploitative materials online lalo na nitong pandemic kaya’t kailangang ma-implement na agad ang batas (I am glad that the Anti-OSAEC Act is finally law. The proliferation of exploitative materials online has intensified, therefore the need for the law to be implemented at once)," she said.

The measure increases the responsibilities of social media platforms, electronic service providers, and internet and financial intermediaries, requiring them to block and preserve OSAEC materials and cooperate with law enforcement agents. The new law also grants additional tools to law enforcers when surveilling and investigating OSAEC cases.

Another feature of the law is the creation of the National Coordinating Center against OSAEC and Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Material (CSAEM), which will be under the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking. It establishes protections and guarantees for child victims to address any psycho-social needs.

"Dahil sa bilis ng teknolohiya, mabilis din na nag-e-evolve ang paraan ng predators sa pambibiktima online. Ayon sa aming mga sources, may mga bagong linggwahe na rin silang ginagamit sa social media na hindi agad nade-detect ng ating law enforcers. Sa bagong batas, layon nating mapalakas ang kapasidad ng mga ahensyang may responsibilidad sa mga kasong ito (Online predators evolve as rapidly at technology advances. Our sources say they are now using new terms in social media which our law enforcers cannot detect. This new law aims to strengthen the capacity of agencies handling these cases)," Hontiveros explained.

Meanwhile, Gabriela Party-list Representative Arlene Brosas also lauded the enactment of the Anti-OSAEC Law, which she said is a huge win for victims of abuse who have long been lobbying for this bill amid the rampant online child sexual abuses in the Philippines.

"The measure will also institute an 'offenders registry' that will list down convicted sexual offenders of children, and provides for stiffer penalties from six months up to a lifetime jail term," she added. 

Gabriela now urges the government to speed up the crafting of the Implementing Rules and Regulations, especially now that more young children are being exposed to different social media platforms.