SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday urged the government to intensify its efforts to combat the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, following a report by the Department of Information and Communications Technology that the Philippines ranks second globally in online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

Earlier, Gatchalian said he was shocked at the Philippines’ world ranking on the OSAEC hotspot list.

“We should really try very hard to get us out of that rank of being number two in the world on OSAEC, and even get us out of that list,” said Gatchalian.

“Aside from the hardware and tools that we need, there are things we can enact quickly to improve communication and coordination to share information as quickly as possible,” Gatchalian added.

DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy attributed the prevalence of OSAEC in the country to the lack of necessary tools to identify and track down perpetrators.

DICT Assistant Secretary Mary Rose Magsaysay, meanwhile, said that the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center is working with the University of the Philippines to translate materials that would raise awareness, especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

The DICT is also working with telecommunication companies to block child sexual abuse and exploitation materials.

The Scale of Harm Survey by International Justice Mission and the University of Nottingham Rights Lab estimates that 471,416 Filipino children were trafficked to produce new child sexual exploitation material in 2022.

Gatchalian co-authored two laws that strengthen the government’s capacity to crack down on OSAEC: the Anti-OSAEC and Anti-CSAEM Act or Republic Act 11930 and the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022 or Republic Act 11862.