House passes anti-child porno bill in record time

Underscoring the urgency of protecting minors from sexual abuse and exploitation, the House of Representatives spent less than two hours Tuesday night to pass on second reading the anti-child pornography bill and is set to finally dispose of the measure next week for transmission to the Senate.

Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, one of the bill’s principal authors, lauded the swift approval on Tuesday night of HB 6440. “In passing the bill, we safeguard our children’s right to have a choice in charting their future, free from the pernicious, far-reaching and life-changing effects of child pornography,” Defensor said.

Defensor, chairman of the House committee on justice, noted that while the actual number of child pornography cases in the world had yet to be determined, research studies on the issue had produced alarming results.

Defensor cited a study by the United States Department of Justice pointing to over one million children in the US abused by porno syndicates. Various police operations conducted by several countries also resulted in the discovery of millions more of images of children victimized into pornography.

“With the age of virtual communications reaching but a fraction of its peak, child pornography is at an all-time high,” Defensor said.

Aside from Defensor, other principal authors of the bill are Reps. Monica Prieto-Teodoro (Lakas-Kampi Tarlac); Darlene Antonino-Custodio (NPC, South Cotabato); Ignacio Arroyo (Lakas-Kampi, Negros Occidental); Rene Velarde (Buhay); Irwin Tieng (Buhay); Adeline Rodriguez-Zaldarriaga (Lakas-Kampi, Rizal); Rodolfo Plaza (NPC, Agusan del Sur); Bienvenido Abante (Lakas-Kampi, Manila); Rufus Rodriguez (PMP, Cagayan de Oro City); and Danilo Suarez (Lakas-Kampi, Quezon)

Zaldarriaga-Rodriguez said HB 6440 is a consolidation of at least six bills filed by over 30 congressmen.

She pointed out that while child pornography is considered among the most pernicious of crimes, the country still has not specific law punishing the act.

The laws protecting the child cannot be considered adequate to protect minors from pornographers, she said.

Under the bill, a victim of child pornography shall be recognized as a victim of violent crime and may claim compensation and his or her family shall be entitled to protection under the law.

Imposable penalties stipulated in the bill include fines ranging from P30,000 to P2 million and a maximum imprisonment of 20 years.

The bill also provides mandatory government services for victims that include emergency shelter, counseling, free legal services, medical and psychological services and educational assistance. –Charlie V. Manalo, Daily Tribune