Sectoral Meeting: Ongoing Initiatives to Combat OSAEC and CSAEM in the Philippines

State Dining Room, Malacañan Palace
April 24, 2024
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issues several directives for key government agencies to prioritize and exhaust all possibilities to go after criminals involved in the sexual abuse of children during a sectoral meeting at the State Dining Room in Malacañan Palace on April 24, 2024.
According to Atty. Margarita Magsaysay, Executive Director of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Center for Anti-Online Child Sexual Abuse, the Philippines remains a destination country for various forms of child abuse and exploitation, with nearly half a million Filipino children being trafficked to produce sexual exploitation material.
These abuses are categorized as Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) which uses information and communications technology (ICT) as a means to abuse and exploit children sexually, and Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM) which refers to real acts of sexual abuse or exploitation of a child as a sexual object.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), an international non-profit organization, has received over 2.7 million CyberTipline Reports (CTR) of children being abused and exploited in the Philippines for the year 2023 alone; the highest number of reports was in 2021 with over 3.08 million incidents. The prevalence and proliferation of these crimes have fostered an illegal industry estimated to be worth PhP1.5 trillion over the last three (3) years from 2021 to 2023.
While there are ongoing measures being implemented to end these crimes, President Marcos Jr. orders them to consolidate all efforts, focusing on the specialties of each agency, and to come up with a strategy in the next four (4) weeks.
*
Connect with RTVM
Website: rtvm.gov.ph
Facebook: presidentialcom and rtvmalacanang
CZcams: @RTVMalacanang
Tiktok: @RTVMalacanang