‘Blame gov’t, not the parents’

Salinlahi, A national alliance of 24 children’s welfare organizations, expresses grave concern over recent news reports about the victimization of Filipino children in prostitution and cyberpornography.

It is both saddening and enraging that our children still continue to fall prey to the evil that is sexual exploitation and pornography.

Two reported cases—one, about the crackdown in Cebu City of a cybersex den catering to foreign clients, some based in the United Kingdom; the other, about the local flesh trade in Antipolo City—have only underscored the government’s utter lack of  mechanisms to protect children against these forms of abuse and violence.

Why is it that the only intervention being done by the authorities happens after the fact, when the rights of the children have already been violated and their lives and dignity already tarnished? They should have never been involved in such a gruesome act in the first place.

Salinlahi also strongly condemns the Antipolo City police under the leadership of Supt. Arthur Masungsong for detaining the 24 minors they “rescued” in their bust operation last Jan. 15. These children are victims. To put them in jail is not only a violation of the juvenile justice law, it cuts another wound in their already scarred psyche. Instead of jailing the victims, the police should run after and prosecute the syndicates and groups behind such heinous and immoral acts.

Amid reports that some of the parents had consented to their children’s involvement in such crimes, Salinlahi reiterates that it is ultimately the state’s responsibility to ensure that children, the future of our society, are protected from all forms of abuse and exploitation.

The authorities are hastily indicting the parents and guardians of the victims. But putting the blame on the parents of these children disregards the societal context that poverty and the lack of economic opportunities are the corroborating risk factors of this phenomenon. This continuing trend of child exploitation only shows that President Aquino and his administration lack the political will in resolving the root causes of this dilemma.

—KHARLO FELIPE C. MANANO,

secretary general,

Salinlahi Alliance for

Children’s Concerns,

[email protected]