CYBER PORN 101

Studies reveal that the income generated from internet prostitution contributes a lot to the proliferation of this type of illegal activities in the Philippines. Depending on the website where their illegal activities are being marketed, a customer who gets to chat with an internet model pays at least US$ 4.99 per minute. Out of this amount, (Philippine) local operators of internet pornography joints get to earn at least US$ 1.00 per minute whereas the models receive US$ .50 per minute, which are remitted via bank transfer or remittance centers at a time agreed upon with the principal abroad. In effect, the daily earnings of a model which has four customers a day at an average of 30 minutes per customer is way above the income of an ordinary office employee. In fact, higher by a mile than the salaries of the police officers who specialize in the handling of these cases including one who blogs about it.

For women who previously work as bar girls, they claim that to work in internet pornography joints is better in terms of their safety and privacy. They claim that apart from not being forced to sit with a customer, they get to maintain their anonymity as they only make use of usernames and aliases. As such, they do not have to deal with rude customers and lessen the risk of catching sexually transmitted diseases. Unlike when they work in bars and clubs, they do not have to buy perfumes, shoes, make-up or clothes, as they are practically naked all the time. More importantly, they get to take home 100 percent of their earnings as there are no deductions for withholding taxes, SSS and medicare (philhealth), although personally, latter should have been deducted for being naked for long hours would mean higher chances of getting sick.

In going after personalities engaged in the illegal act of prostitution committed with the use of modern technology, it is ironic that in most cases, law enforcement still makes use of the old provisions of the Revised Penal Code (Article 201), a long outdated law enacted in the 1930s when lawmakers have not even dreamt of the internet yet. However, for pornographies involving children, the provisions of Section 9 of R. A. 7610 or the Child’s Protection Act applies.

More recently, Congress passed a landmark legislation in Republic Act 9775 or the Child Pornography Law. Having recognized the role of the youth in nation building, the State has geared up towards the “protection of their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, psychological and social well-being” by clearly defining and penalizing the acts of pornography involving children.

For years prior to RA 9775, law enforcement has been encountering some form of difficulty in going after criminals who prey on children and entice them to perform pornography. For one, there is no specific law that defines what “child pornography” is, to reiterate, investigators had to make use of outdated laws. As if the lack of a law in itself is not enough, crimes involving the use of the internet and modern technology, other than that of the E-Commerce Law (RA 8792) have yet to be clearly defined in existing laws. The passage of RA 9775 therefore gives the needed boost by law enforcement in order to at least curb the problems that have arisen for the past years.

A perusal of RA 9775 disclose that it includes notable provisions which penalize parents, legal guardians, or just about any person who has legal custody of a child who knowingly permit him/her to engage, participate and assist in the commission of any form of child pornography. It recognizes the reality that most minor victims are actually drawn into the act by the enticement of the parents and guardians themselves who earn money out of their children’s jobs. As discussed earlier, it seems that money actually plays a big part in inducing people to engage in pornography, without distinction as to age.

In one of the forum this author has attended in the past, a resource person from UNICEF claimed that the Philippines may yet be the highest producer of online pornography in the Philippines. In claiming so, he said that foreigner suspects have taken advantage of the culture of most Filipinos that do not put malice on the nakedness of their children, particularly those who have yet to reach puberty. He explained that during the early years when foreign nationals used to visit the far-flung provinces and take photographs of children in the nude, they noticed that the parents did not mind at all-especially when they offered cash just so that the children pose in front of the cameras. He added that when the parents discovered that it was a lucrative business, they took it upon themselves to prepare their children until the next foreigner visitor arrives. He added that eventually, the parents lose regard for the welfare of their children whose activities have progressed from ordinary nude poses to performing sexual acts.

The framers of the law, in an attempt to curb these problems eventually criminalize the acts of grooming, luring and pandering of children.

Another notable provision of RA 9775 involves that of penalizing the act of possessing any form of child pornography with the intent to sell, distribute, publish, or broadcast. It likewise considered as prima facie evidence of intent to sell provided that the suspect possessed three (3) or more articles of child pornography of the same form. Some may find it unfair to have this kind of provision included in the law saying that to possess these types of materials is not conclusive that one is a pedophile, worse one who sells it. The author begs to disagree. Under normal circumstances, no person in his right mind would access and keep sufficient number of child pornography in his possession unless he is sick of mind or intends to share it. In fact, an average person actually feels offended or even nauseated upon the sight of these materials that he would veer away from it immediately. Therefore, to keep copies of it means that one intends to access it anytime he wishes, under circumstances that we do not wish to imagine. In each of the times the possessor accesses these files, these are the same number of times the children being depicted thereat are also being raped and abused. To include a provision like this in the law is like putting a label to potential offenders and eventually deterring the proliferation of offensive materials maybe even they are distributed.

Nonetheless, it seems that while others consider it as a landmark legislation, some sectors of society have likewise seen the impractical side of RA 9775 at least in the area when Internet Service Providers are required to monitor, deter and report on child pornography that passes through their respective system. Some have quickly pointed out that to require ISPs to comply to such provisions would mean millions of additional costs per day that may eventually be passed on as burden to the consumers. It added that under the current system, ISPs who would be required to monitor internet traffic would review practically everything that passes into their system leading to a slow down of connection and therefore poor service. Say goodbye then to information superhighway. Meanwhile, others have commented that to monitor and deter internet traffic is tantamount to censorship and a curtailment of the Constitutionally guaranteed right to access to information and expression- like granting to the ISPs the undue power to decide what is desirable to the senses and not. What about those who do research or investigative works? Does that mean that they too cannot access the sites because the ISPs have blocked the porn sites right away? The proponents of this school of thought added that the State cannot, in the exercise of its police power, impair the rights of other people especially the ones who are responsible and already capable of restraining themselves.

In the light of all these, there leaves no doubt in mind that the previous session of Congress has done a good job, at least in so far as passing a law that has been overdue. We cannot lend a blind eye to the fact that children who are not capable of protecting themselves have always to rely on government to do such acts for them.