BACOLOD City Councilor Caesar Distrito said Monday, July 17, that the City Government should tap barangay officials to actively monitor the illegal and highly condemnable cybersex crimes against children.
Distrito, chairperson of committee on laws, said barangay officials are on the ground and capable to gather information.
Superintendent Maria Shiela Portento, head of Women and Children Protection Center-Operation Management Division based in Camp Crame, had earlier said that Bacolod is considered as a “place of interest” after three cases were reported between May and July.
On May 5, the mother of three victims was caught offering one of her daughters to an online predator from Australia while another girl was rescued in the second operation after her mother exploited her to a customer in the United States.
Two months later, six minors, including a two-year-old boy, and a female adult were rescued while a woman, who exploited her two minor children and two nieces, was arrested on July 13.
Portento said that when these reports bear the same locations, it’s an indicator that the locality is a “hotspot.”
Distrito said it is high time that the Bacolod City Council for Protection of Children, Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) in every police station, and the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) should work together to stop and prosecute those who are responsible for such illegal activities.
He said that schools can also be a conduit in helping disseminate the campaign against the proliferation of cybersex crimes especially against children.
“If they notice questionable actions, they should immediately report it to their teachers or barangay officials, who will in return inform our police officers,” Distrito added.
Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran had earlier said the police should also investigate the parents as they might be on drugs.
He said he does not understand why a parent would exploit their children online to earn a living.
He added that barangay officials, as frontliners, should also cooperate.
Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky, acting director of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), said Monday that charges were already filed against the suspect, who is detained at Police Station 4, while the minors are now in the custody of the DSSD.
He said the DSSD will assess the cases of the minors to determine whether to return them to their parents or let them stay in their custody.
Wanky clarified that Bacolod is considered only as an “area of interest” and not a hotspot.
“I appeal on the use of sensitive words which has a negative connotation and might somehow exaggerate the situation putting the image of the city in bad light,” he added.
He said that they do not have a basis to consider Bacolod as a cybersex “hot spot.”
Senior Police Officer 4 Arlyn Torrendon, head of BCPO-WCPD, said they have recorded only two cybersex operations.
She said that on May 5, the second operation was only a rescue operation and not considered an entrapment.