The Department of Justice on Monday said the government is creating a registry of foreign sex offenders to help prevent their entry to the Philippines.
“Once this is done, it will be an additional resource to prevent the entry of these persons,” DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said.
“We already see in the news that the Bureau of Immigration has intercepted and prevented the entry of many foreign sex offenders,” Ty added.
He said the ccreation of the registry is pursuant to Republic Act No. 11930 or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM) Act.
The registry, he said, will be crafted by the National Coordination Center against OSAEC and CSAEM, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Bureau of Immigration.
“It cannot be denied that the Philippines is a global hotspot on online sexual abuse and exploitation of children because of various factors including poverty, our knowledge of the English language, our being tech savvy, and the diffused internet connection in the country,” he said.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco earlier expressed alarm over the rise in the number of foreign sex offenders coming into the country this year.
The BI commissioner said more than 150 registered sex offenders (RSOs) were intercepted and prevented entry to the Philippines.