Co-Sponsorship Speech
Senate Bill No. 2449 / under Committee Report No. 333
AN ACT STRENGTHENING PROTECTIONS AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9208, AS AMENDED BY REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10364, ENTITLED "AN ACT TO INSTITUTE POLICIES TO ELIMINATE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND/OR CHILDREN, ESTABLISHING THE NECESSARY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR THE PROTECTION AND SUPPORT OF TRAFFICKED PERSONS", AND OTHER SPECIAL LAWS, PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR ITS VIOLATIONS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Session Hall, Senate of the Philippines
Delivered by THE HONORABLE WIN GATCHALIAN, Senator of the 18th Congress:

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, good afternoon.

We saw in the early stages of the pandemic that children were less vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. But this health crisis exposed them to other threats. One of these is the alarming surge of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children or OSAEC, which has become a silent pandemic----one that we need to curtail. And while we have already approved a bill that defines and penalizes OSAEC, Senate Bill No. 2449 could not have been timelier as it would strengthen our government's crackdown on OSAEC and other forms of trafficking.

Mr. President, children are among the most vulnerable to trafficking crimes in our country. The U.S. State Department's 2021 Trafficking in Persons report on the Philippines showed that most of the 73 traffickers convicted under the anti-trafficking act and related laws in 2020 subjected children to sex trafficking, with 25 of them sexually exploiting children online.

It is also worth noting that in 2020, the Department of Justice Office of Cybercrime received 1.29 million Cybertipline reports of alleged OSAEC cases from the U.S. based-National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The figure is thrice the 426,000 reported in 2019. While the National Bureau of Investigation clarified that these reports do not reflect actual cases of OSAEC, these figures are nonetheless alarming for a country which the UNICEF identified as the global epicenter of the live-stream sexual abuse trade.

Learning woes during the pandemic made our children more vulnerable to OSAEC. In January this year, we heard alarming reports of students selling lewd images and videos to raise funds for their distance learning expenses. This representation has called on the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police to probe these incidents and strengthen their crackdown on OSAEC. To our gratitude, their response was swift. When this matter caught the attention of the Executive Branch, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles relayed the President's call to Congress to prioritize amendments to our anti-trafficking laws. The proposed amendments include the exemption of trafficking in persons from the Anti-Wiretapping Law, broadening the membership of the Inter- Agency Council Against Trafficking or IACAT, and imposing obligations on Internet Service Providers or ISPs and tourism establishments to help combat child pornography in the country.

As co-author and co-sponsor of this measure, I am deeply grateful that we are finally taking up this measure to protect our children. I would also like to thank the sponsor of this measure, Senator Risa Hontiveros, for substantially adopting the principle in the bill that this representation filed and for coming up with a measure that aligns with the bill we passed against human trafficking.

In a nutshell, we are strengthening Republic Act No. 9208, as amended by Republic Act No. 10364, to provide standards and guidelines on surveillance, interception, investigation, and prosecution of different forms of human trafficking, including sexual exploitation, prostitution, forced labor, slavery, and removal or sale of organs, among others.

When it comes to investigation involving the use of the internet and other digital platforms, the regional trial court can provide a written order authorizing law enforcers to conduct surveillance and record communications and information involving persons charged with or suspected of trafficking. Law enforcers, however, should establish reasonable grounds that a crime of trafficking has been committed, is being plotted, or taking place. Law enforcers who record communications with a person or persons who are reasonably believed to have committed, is committing, or about to commit any trafficking crimes shall not be liable under the provisions of Republic Act No. 4200 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. The same procedures will also not be considered as wiretapping or illegal interception.

When I filed my version of this measure, I sought to enumerate the responsibilities of internet service providers or ISPs and tourismoriented establishments to report and prevent cases of trafficking. ISPs should install available technology, program, or software to block and filter any access to any form of child pornography. One of the responsibilities of tourism-oriented establishments, on the other hand, is to train their staff to recognize signs of human trafficking crimes so they can report them to law enforcement agencies.

I strongly support the move on the part of our sponsor to increase the participation and accountability of the private sector in preventing human trafficking by emphasizing the roles and responsibilities of businesses, especially internet intermediaries, owners and operators of internet cafes, hotspots and kiosks, money transfer and remittance centers, banks, money service businesses, credit card companies, and financial institutions among others.

We are also seeking to reorganize the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to include agencies like the Department of Health, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Transportation, the Department of Tourism, the National Council on Disability Affairs, and the Council for the Welfare of Children. As Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, I welcome the proposal to include the Department of Education in the reorganized IACAT. I also support the proposed mandate for the DepEd to implement a school-based anti-trafficking and OSAEC preventive education program.

Ginoong Pangulo, habang pinapaigting natin ang pagsugpo sa pandemya, ganun din dapat ang ating sigasig sa pagsugpo sa mga krimeng may kinalaman sa trafficking, lalo na't ang mga kabataan ang nalalagay sa panganib. Napapahon nang paigtingin natin ang kampanya laban sa iba't ibang anyo ng trafficking at tiyakin ang kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan, lalo na ang mga kabataan.

In view of the foregoing, I join Senator Risa Hontiveros and the other co-authors---Senators Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar, Leila de Lima, and Imee Marcos---in seeking the immediate passage of this measure.

Thank you, Mr. President.