LAS PIÑAS Rep. Camille Villar called on her colleagues at the House of Representatives to probe the proliferation of online child sexual abuse.

“There is a need to protect minors from different types of online abuses, especially since the pandemic has had a profound impact on the way children use the Internet as they spent more time online. This form of abuse is one of the most pressing issues involving Filipino children today,” Villar said as she filed House Resolution 453.

She said that the Philippines ranks second in cybercrime vulnerability, exposing children to greater risks as they spend most of their time online.

Based on data, six out of 10 children between the ages of 8 and 10 were exposed to cyber risks such as phishing, hacking, cyberbullying and sexual exploitation.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, 20 percent of Internet-using children aged 12 to 17 in the Philippines were victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Department of Justice said that online child sexual exploitation nearly tripled during the pandemic lockdowns, with 279,166 reported cases from March 1 to May 24, 2020 compared with 76,561 cases logged during the same period in 2019.

“Online sexual exploitation of children, which includes child pornography and abuse, is one of the gravest and most alarming forms of human trafficking that is happening in the Philippines. Children who experience abuse often do not understand that was done to them was a form of abuse and it is important to make them understand that such acts are illegal that may bring them trauma,” Villar said.

“Thus, there is a need to conduct an inquiry into the matter, with the end goals of combatting all forms of early-age human trafficking, protecting their welfare in this digital age, and capacitating state agencies to run after perpetrators of online child exploitation,” she added.