RP presses for tough intl action vs cyber child porn

The Philippines is pressing the international community to forge new agreements against cyber child pornography, a delegation said in a report to the United Nations crime prevention congress in Brazil. Acting Social Welfare Secretary Celia Yangco presented the country’s achievements and best practices in crime prevention from 2005 to 2009 at the UN 12th Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Salvador de Bahia, where she led a Philippine delegation. Yangco called for new conventions to prevent the ill treatment of people in detention, and to ensure that their human rights are protected, especially in cyber crimes addressing on-line child pornography, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said. “The passage of Republic Act 9344 known as the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act and RA 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act, are considered milestone laws that protect the rights and welfare of children, a sector that is most vulnerable to abuse and exploitation," Yangco said. Yangco’s report included updates on the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, including organ trafficking, the development of a National Referral System for the Recovery and Reintegration of Trafficked Persons, and the development of a database on anti-trafficking efforts. For best practices, Yangco reported on the creation of a task force at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the six-year Strategic Plan of Action Against Trafficking. The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking developed two manuals: Manual on Standard Operating Procedures for Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons in International Airports and the Manual on Recovery and Reintegration of Victims-Survivors of Trafficking. She cited the continuous operation of DSWD’s residential care centers for victims of trafficking – the Haven for Women and the Marillac Hills. Both centers are in Alabang in Muntinlupa City. The Haven caters to disadvantaged women, 18 to 59 years old, who were abused, exploited and trafficked, while Marillac Hills is a rehabilitation center for girls and teenagers, 7 to 17, who were abused or were in conflict with the law. — LBG/SVD, GMANews.TV