Philippines still a source, destination of child trafficking, says UN rapporteur

The Philippines is still source and destination for child trafficking and sale, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children said on Thursday.

In presenting her preliminary findings following her 11-day visit to the Philippines, Mama Fatima Singhateh added that there was a lack of explicit legal provision to penalize the exploitation of children for travel and tourism.

“The Philippines remains a source and destination country for child trafficking, sale, sexual abuse, and forced marriage… and forced labor," Singhateh said.

GMA News Online has reached out to Malacañang for comment.

In a report on "24 Oras", the Department of Tourism (DOT) said there was a law to prevent child abuse in the country, especially in the tourist destinations.

The department said they also have training in the DOT-accredited resorts and hotels to capture the perpetrators.

It added that there was also a hotline to immediately contact hotels and resort personnel.

Reached for comment, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo said the department's Council for the Welfare of Children handled the rescue of children from exploitation.

He said that law enforcement units would have the numbers on the reports of cases of violence against children but added that it could be substantial because the NBI, PNP, Interpol, even the US Homeland Security, FBI, and Australian police were working to catch pedophiles.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, to whom Singhateh paid a courtesy call, said he gave the rapporteur an "official letter" to inform her of the Philippine government's efforts to address the issue.

“We’re Number 1 in the world. Dapat mawala na ito. Yun ang effort talaga ng gobyerno ni Pangulong Marcos na itigil na itong status ng Pilipinas na nangunguna tayo sa child sexual exploitation,” he said in an ambush interview, when asked what is the country’s status in terms of OSAEC.

(We're number 1 in the world. This should be gone. The Marcos administration is really making efforts to stop the Philippines’s status on being the leading country in child sexual exploitation.)

He said the DOJ, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine National Police, and the National Bureau of Investigation had been working together to address the concern.

In August, the Philippine government declared war against online sexual abuse and exploitation following the alarming rise in cases.

Remulla said back then that the administration would not hesitate to “charge” and “prosecute” all individuals who are directly and indirectly participating in the heinous crime.

UNICEF Philippines defines OSAEC as any act of exploitative nature carried out against any child with the use of an electronic device or any medium that can connect to the internet at any point of the abuse.

Singhateh said there might be an under-reporting of child victims of sale and sexual exploitation in the country as the definition and distinction between these terms are “inadequate.”

She recommended a distinction in the law between the sale of children and child trafficking.

Singhateh also pointed out that child marriages still happened in some indigenous and ethnic communities due to their culture and social exclusion, and other reasons.

“I look forward to more information on how the new Act will be implemented and enforced, and what measures will be put in place by the government to address the many reasons why child marriage is prevalent,” Singhateh said.

She was referring to the Republic Act 11596 or An Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and Imposing Penalties for Violations Thereof signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2021.

With regards to teenage pregnancy, she said she is looking forward to receiving data on the exact extent and scope of assessing this issue.

She also suggested providing psychosocial and counseling support to meet the needs of children with disabilities; giving easy access to the education, health, and nutrition of indigenous, ethnic, and minority children; and raising awareness on stigma-free attitudes towards children who are members of the LGBTQ community.

Further, the Special Rapporteur also highlighted issues on the illegal adoption of children in the country, which she said stemmed from the simulation of birth records.

“I note alleged reports of birth registrations by authorities using and verifying the details of falsified information regarding biological parents,” she said.

“Despite the Adoption Law, procedural gaps and factors have pushed parents to engage in illegal adoption and sale of their children,” she added, stressing the need for more information to address such.

Despite all these, Singhateh noted that the Philippines “has made noteworthy efforts to improve the policy, legal, and institutional framework” to protect its children against forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.

“The Philippines has ratified some of the major international documents of relevance to my mandate. It has made positive developments in the ambit of the legal framework with recent adoptions of the act prohibiting the practice of child marriage and online child sexual abuse and exploitation,” she said.

Singhateh said her preliminary observations will be further elaborated in her final report which will be presented to the Human Rights Council in March 2024. —NB, GMA Integrated News