NARDO (real name withheld) bought a birthday cake for his only daughter last Saturday.
But before he could get home, Angelica (real name withheld) was taken by social workers and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The girl, who turned six yesterday, was among the five minors rescued during a raid on a suspected cyber-porn den in Purok Talong, Barangay Cogon, Cordova last Saturday afternoon.
“Grabe akong kahiubos (I am deeply disappointed),” Nardo said in an interview yesterday.
His wife and two sons, ages 14 and 23, were also taken into custody by NBI, whose subject during the operation was the girlfriend of Nardo’s 23-year-old son.
Nardo said the raid shocked him, as he had no idea about the activities allegedly perpetrated by his son’s girlfriend.
The couple lives in a room adjacent to Nardo’s house.
The operation also surprised Barangay Cogon Councilor Lorna Cañete, who chairs the barangay’s committee on women and children.
“Nagtuo mi na wala na’y naghimo ana diri kay nangahadlok na sa mga dakop (We thought nobody is doing [cyber-porn] anymore after the previous arrests),” she told Sun.Star Cebu.
4 years ago
Before last Saturday’s operation, the last raid on a suspected cyber-porn den in the barangay was in 2011. Three minors were rescued at the time.
Cañete said that the barangay and the Cordova Municipal Government have not been remiss in reminding residents about the consequences of cyber-porn.
Last September, the barangay passed an ordinance creating the barangay council against trafficking, whose functions include fighting cyber-porn.
Copies of the ordinance were posted on public bulletin boards. During barangay assemblies, Cañete said, residents are always warned against engaging in the illegal activity.
Even the parish priest, during Sunday masses, always reminds parents to not succumb to easy money by exploiting their children.
Livelihood programs are also available, especially for women and members of the National Government’s conditional cash transfer program Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
The Municipal Government has an ordinance strictly regulating transactions in money transfer outlets, after the observation surfaced that households engaging in the illegal trade may be claiming payments in these outlets.
Did everything
“Amo na gyud gibuhat tanan. Unsaon ta man naa may tawo nga di mahadlok (We have done everything. But there are just people who are not afraid to do it),” said Cañete.
Several persons are lured to the business because it is profitable, said an official of the NBI 7.
Lawyer Augusto Eric Isidoro, NBI 7 assistant director, said that suspects Irene Diloy, 18, and her live-in partner Johnson, 23, reportedly can earned P30,000 to P50,000 per day. (Sun.Star is withholding Johnson’s full name to protect his six-year-old sibling who was rescued during the operation.)
The couple was arrested by NBI agents and Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) 7 in Barangay Cogon, Cordova last Saturday afternoon.
“Their mindset is that cyber-pornography is much better because they are not working in a club, sauna or bar where they can possibly get infected with STD (sexually transmitted diseases) or HIV (human immunodeficiency virus),” said Isidoro in a phone interview.
Personnel of IACAT 7 decided yesterday to file complaints against Diloy, 18, and Johnson today. IACAT is composed of the police, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Justice (DOJ) and other government agencies. The prosecutors and NBI are under the DOJ.
Johnson’s mother is still under investigation.
Schools, church
To go after this operation, the US Department of Homeland Security coordinated with the NBI-Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTRAD), which in turn informed the IACAT in Central Visayas. International Justice Mission also assisted in the operation, which was authorized by a search warrant issued by Mandaue City Regional Trial Court Branch 55 Judge Ferdinand Rafanan.
In a separate interview, Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy said he will again visit the schools and communities to remind students and parents about the ordinance that penalizes cyber-porn.
“Kung unsay kalihokan identified na na ang Cogon ug Ibabao. Di man patuo. Magkawat-kawat man gyud (Activities in Barangays Cogon and Ibabao are closely monitored. They did not heed my advice. They continued doing cyber-pornography),” Sitoy said in a phone interview.
Diloy, the 18-year-old subject of the NBI, allegedly used a cameraphone to take pictures of children for the viewing of online pedophiles.
Angelica was the youngest of the children rescued last Saturday. Her 14-year-old brother was also taken into custody, as were an eight-year-old girl and two 10-year-old girls.
Cañete said she never suspected Diloy of earning income from cyber-porn as the young woman even borrowed money from neighbors.
Broken
Diloy, who is unemployed, has a one-year-old son with Nardo’s son, who works as a factory worker in the Mactan Economic Zone.
Nardo said he also could not believe that DilOy, his son or his wife engaged in the illegal activity.
He said his wife, a manicurist, was taken by the NBI as she rushed to her daughter and son while they were being led by social workers and NBI agents to a van.
Nardo, who works in a hardware store in Cebu City, said he never noticed Diloy or his son earning large sums of money, as he would often lend the couple cash.
He said his 14-year-old son was sleeping on their sofa when he was taken by the social workers and NBI agents. He said the boy, a Grade 9 student, has an exam today.
Nardo said he could hardly sleep because he was used to sleeping only after seeing that all his seven children are safe at home.
He said he hopes the authorities will release his wife and three children today, and that Angelica will get to taste the cake, untouched inside the refrigerator.