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MANILA – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday urged the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police to strengthen their efforts against students who are allegedly selling obscene photos of themselves to raise funds to support their education.
Gatchalian cited a story from Filipino Student Online Tambayan (POST), a news portal focused on the student sector, reporting that students held an online “holiday sale” of their “sexy” photos and videos in order to purchase devices and pay on the internet. bills in support of distance education.
“Criminals are exploiting the needs of our students and our government must fight them,” said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture.
(Criminals are exploiting the needs of our students and the government should fight them.)
Students reportedly used the hashtags #AlterPH, #AlterPinay and #AlterPhilippines to sell their photos and videos on Twitter. Some of the obscene materials reportedly sold for as little as P150, according to the report.
Gatchalian called on the Department of Education to boost its child protection program, noting that child protection committees (CPCs) in schools have a mandate to identify students who may be experiencing abuse and exploitation.
“CPCs are also expected to report cases to government agencies and non-governmental organizations,” he said.
In May, the Justice Department said that reports of online sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines increased by more than 260 percent during the coronavirus shutdown.
DepEd Undersecretary Jesús Mateo previously said that preventing child sexual exploitation online is an interagency effort.
Mateo advised parents to monitor their children’s online activities, which can lead to incidents of abuse.
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Sherwin Gatchalian, online child sexual exploitation, child abuse, education, distance learning, new normal education, social media
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