Press Release
April 2, 2008

REVILLA READIES COMMITTEE REPORT VS CYBERSEX

Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. pressed for the passage of the Anti-Pornography Bill as he readies the committee report on the said measure that would arrest the prevalence of cybersex in the country. The senator stressed that is high time that the Anti-Pornography Bill be enacted to law so the government could fully penalize perpetrators of cyber prostitution. "We can not deny that sex trade in the country has evolved through the cyberspace, which is more accessible to anyone and anywhere in the world, including to the youth," said Revilla, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media.

This was the statement of Revilla in the wake of the police raid in a suspected cybersex den in Bacoor, Cavite where 17 Filipinas were rescued including a minor.

He earlier called on law enforcement agencies and local governments to lock-up internet cafes in its jurisdiction that tolerate access to child pornography websites.

Revilla disclosed that his committee has already completed its committee report on his bill- Senate Bill (SB) No. 12- and on seven similar bills and one resolution to address the continuing proliferation of pornographic materials in various media, including the internet and other high tech forms of communication. He said the committee report is still to be signed by a number of members of the committee. Revilla appealed to the Lower House to pass a counterpart bill to expedite the enactment of this measure into law.

Mayor Strike Revilla, the senator's younger brother, led police on Saturday in raiding a cybersex den in Bacoor, Cavite believed to be operated by a Japanese national, who eluded arrest. They were able to rescue 17 Pinays, including a minor hired by Japanese Sacho Kameda and Jasmin Javier. Kameda is still being hunted while Javier was brought in for questioning.

The two suspects will be charged of violation of Republic Act (RA) 7610, also known as Special Protection of Children against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination.

The lawmaker appealed to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to issue a hold departure order against Kameda. "We must not let the primary suspect to just disappear without trial. It would be a big blow in our campaign against cyber prostitution. We will be a laughing stock to the international community if foreigners continue to operate illegal activities in the country," Revilla explained.

SB12 aims directly to punish cyber-sex den operators and to slap stiffer penalties to those who publish, broadcast and exhibit pornographic materials through the use of traditional media, the internet, the "cyberspace", cellular phones and other forms of media

Under the bill, any person who shall cause the publication, broadcast, exhibition or selling of pornographic materials shall be punished with 12 to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of not less than two hundred fifty thousand pesos. Any person who helps in the commission of the crime will face 12 year imprisonment and fine of not less than one hundred thousand pesos. "Here in the Philippines , the prevalence of pornographic materials via the internet and cellphones are not clearly punishable at present either by the Revised Penal Code or the Republic Act 9208, otherwise known as "Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003," Revilla pointed out.

Based on the survey website www.TopTenReviews.com the Philippines garnered the eight 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.

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