PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the National Telecommunications Commission to impose sanctions on Internet Service Providers  that allow their services to be used for online child exploitation, a Malacañang official said on Tuesday.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said that transaction reports related to online sexual exploitation rose from 19,000 in 2019 to 47,937 in 2020.

“The NTC is hereby instructed to do your duty as far as any violations are concerned. Hindi hahayaan ng gobyerno na madagdagan pa ang biktima ng sexual exploitation sa gitna ng kinakaharap nating pandemya,” Nograles said.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian earlier raised concerns over a report broke by The Philippine Online Student Tambayan that some students held a “Christmas sale” of their lewd photos and videos on Twitter to raise money for their online classes needs.

Nograles said the President adopted the recommendations of the Department of Justice to curb illicit activities related to online sexual exploitation.

Among the recommendations were the strict enforcement of Republic Act 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, which penalizes internet service providers for failing to install technologies to block or foil child pornography activities.

Under Republic Act 9775, ISPs should notify the Philippine National Police or the National Bureau of Investigation within seven days from obtaining facts and circumstances that any form of child pornography is being committed using its server or facility.

All ISPs should also install available technology, program or software to ensure that access to or transmittal of any form of child pornography will be blocked.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education said it was deeply alarmed over the rise of cases of online exploitation among students, adding that it would cooperate with other government agencies to prevent and address sexual abuse among kids.