Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Friday revealed that they are looking at guidelines intended to prevent settlement in cases of incestuous rape and child abuse.
“We will consult with the Court Administrator and maybe write to the Chief Justice so that there would be guidelines for our courts not to agree with negotiations regarding those cases,” Remulla said, adding that the attitude of the government in such cases must be “non-negotiable.”
Remulla made the statement after meeting with officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Information and Communication Technology, and the Child Protection Network Foundation (CPN) regarding incestuous rape.
“There is this practice of entering into a settlement, but with these cases, we should not agree because it will happen again if we allowed (the suspects) to go scot-free,” the Justice Secretary said. Rey E. Requejo
According to Remulla, the country is in a “state of emergency” when it comes to the sexual abuse of children.
“That’s what we’ve discussed, how to stop this epidemic. This is an epidemic without vaccine,” he said.
According to CPN executive director Bernadette Madrid, one out of 20 Filipino children experiences sexual violence with the majority of the perpetrators being family members.
She said that in 2020, two million Filipino children experienced grave online sexual abuse and exploitation. Madrid further said that the Philippines is known as being “the hub of live stream of sexual abuse” around the globe.
Meanwhile, data from the DSWD showed that more female children reported cases of incest with 852 cases and one case was reported for male children from 2019 to 2022.
“That’s how serious the problem is. And in one of the interviews of the foreign perpetrators of OSAEC, it was asked why it is such a big problem in the Philippines. The answer was it is very easy for an adult to sell one’s child,” Madrid said.
Madrid also said that the 2015 National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children in the Philippines was the last widespread survey on the subject.
She said that based on the study, only 1% of child sexual abuse cases were reported to authorities.
“The thing is, we don’t need to see a trend, whether it’s going up or down, by its very nature, the fact that 1 out of 20 Filipino child experience sexual violence, we should already do something about it, because that’s already very high by itself,” she added.
Madrid also welcomed an increase in reports of child sexual abuse cases, saying this means that more and more people are being open about their experiences.
Katrina Legarda, CPN National Network Ddrector, also questioned why the word “incest” had no direct translation in Filipino.
“What is it in Tagalog. None, right? What does that say to you, di ba? It might say to you that it’s always kept in secret. That’s what it means. Not talked about, frowned upon, and kept to themselves. And it happens among the very rich and the very poor. Incest,” Legarda said.
Meanwhile, DICT Undersecretary Anna Mae Lamentillo said the DICT has the power to shut down websites linked to the exploitation of women and children.
“DICT actually has the power to shut down websites… all these websites used to push ‘yung mga cybercrimes and cyberporn, exploitation of children and women, in coordination with the DOJ and DILG, can actually shut down websites to put an end to all of this,” she said.
For the DSWD, Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez said the agencies must coordinate with each other regarding their programs.
“What we are seeing is that there is a DSWD program, a DILG program, DOJ and so on and so forth. What we need right now is to realign and come up with a response that will address appropriately the needs of the public,” Lopez said.
DILG Undersecretary Margarita Gutierrez said they seek to empower the barangays.