INTERNET, NEW NANNY OF KIDS- REVILLA
RP JOINS BILLIONAIRE'S CLUB IN PORNO REVENUE

Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media chairman Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. expressed alarm on the extent of obscenity in cyberspace specially considering that the internet is now the new nanny of children and internet cafes serve as their daycare centers.

During a hearing recently conducted by Revilla's commitee, End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) Information Officer Remedios Olivares told the senator that there are parents who leave their children in internet cafes and let them play computer games and surf the web on their own. The lawmaker warned that children are susceptible to online pornography even if there are so-called computer programs that refuse access to pornographic websites. "In recent years, the growth of the internet, by allowing perpetrators greater, easier and faster access to child pornography and pornography in general, has created a new series of challenges to law-enforcement agencies targeting sexual exploitation," Revilla said.

He added that as a father, it is also distressing that pornographic websites could be easily accessible to children due to absence of a law that sufficiently deals with online pornography.

"It is not only about the children accessing pornography, but also about children depicted as engaging in sexual activity with adults and other children. They are the first and foremost victims of child sexual abuse, "he said.

It was also revealed in the hearing that pornography continues to flourish in cyberspace due to the invulnerability of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Telecommunication Companies (TelCos) to existing laws.

According to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Supervising Agent Palmer Mallari, ISPs and TelCos often invoke the right of confidentiality of its clients when it comes to pornographic materials they want to retrieve as evidence for prosecution of online pornography perpetrators.

Mallari lamented that pornography cases, whether on-line or on print, do not prosper in court due to the lack of sufficient laws to combat the said offense. He stressed that there should be a law that would obligate ISPs and TelCos to cooperate with the authorities. Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) representative Police Superintendent Mario Ramos said there is a need for a law to regulate the ISPs and TelCos.

Those who also attended the hearing were CIDG Women and Children Complaints Division chief Supt. Sotera Macatangay, NBI Violence Against Women and Children (NBI-VAWC) chief Atty. Angelica Somera, National Commission for Culture and Arts Executive Director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and Bernadette Tamayo of the Philippine Journalists Incorporated. They all expressed their support for Revilla's advocacy against pornography.

For his part, Revilla vowed to consider the positions of all the resource persons in coming up with a consolidated bill that will fully address pornography in the country, particularly child pornography in the internet and other means of modern communication. "We are not legislating morality but we must provide an adequate law that would protect our children and other citizens from this peril," he explained.

He further pointed out that viewing pornographic materials may seem to be harmless fun to mature audiences, but warned that according to studies, it may lead to addiction that self-destructs the regular viewer morally, psychologically and socially. "We will put an end to this problem. Pornography is a transnational industry and syndicates rake billions of dollars in expense of our youth ," Revilla added.

Based on the survey website www.TopTenReviews.com, the Philippines garnered the eighth spot in the 2006 Worldwide Pornography Revenues, sharing the spot with Canada and Taiwan with $1 billion revenue each.

Grabbing the no. 1 spot is China with $27.40 billion revenue, followed by South Korea ($25.73 billion), Japan ($19.98 billion), US ($13.33 billion), Australia ($2 billion), UK ($1.97 billion) and Italy ($1.40 billion). The pornography industry is larger than the revenues of the top technology companies combined: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix and EarthLink.