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Monday, February 06, 2006
Vice mayor open to stiffer penalty v. porno
By Victor L. Camion
DUMAGUETE City Vice Mayor William Ablong welcomed a move by members of the House of Representatives to impose a stiffer penalty on persons engaged in obscene, pornographic, and immoral activities.
The proposal was to increase the penalty to P1 million or its equivalent life imprisonment.
"That's a welcome development kay makaluluoy ang atong kababayen-an nga ginegosyo ngadto sa mga tawong hakog sa unod," said Ablong.
Ablong added that some women have been forced into prostitution because of money.
"Maoy akong gusto nga makita nako silang mabilanggo," he said.
The vice mayor is a top official of Couples for Christ in Negros Oriental and a sponsor of an anti-pornography ordinance in the City Council.
Meanwhile, Representative Emmanuel Joel Villanueva of Partylist, CIBAC, called for an update on the country's penal laws to adapt it to advances in technology.
Villanueva said despite provisions in the law defining and penalizing indecent act, pornography still prevails and is even more rampant because violators have grown bolder in recent years.
He said the campaign of the Philippine National Police in 2003 alone has resulted to seizure of 365,602 pornographic VCDs, DVDs, and VHS, with an estimated value of P14,733,467 and 120 cases were also filed in the same year for violations of existing anti-pornography laws.
"It is unfortunate that there seems to have no little impact on the continuing proliferation of immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibitions, indecent shows, and the despicable practice of involving children in them," Villanueva said.
He said this could be attributed to the fact that aside from its high profitability, low penalties are being imposed.
Villanueva said even if an offender was convicted, there was no assurance he would be in jail and kept away from the public.
"The fine is so negligible when compared to the profit pornography business generates," he said.
He added that current advances in technology contributed to the upsurge of pornography in the country noting that as of September of 2004, the National Telecommunications Commission registered 53 Internet Service Providers with an estimated 800,000 subscribers.
(February 5, 2006 issue)
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