A QUEZON City congressman has filed a bill imposing stiffer penalties on groups or syndicates involved in child pornography and online sexual exploitation of children.

House Bill (HB) No. 4116, or the proposed “Anti-Child Pornography and Online Sexual Exploitation Act,” authored by Representative PM Vargas, sets a penalty of reclusion perpetua (permanent imprisonment) and a maximum fine of P2 million for parties found guilty of syndicated child pornography and online sexual exploitation.

In the previous Congress, former congressman and now city councilor Alfred Vargas, the incumbent solon’s brother, filed several bills intended to protect and safeguard children’s rights.

These include bills mandating infant-friendly facilities in government offices, penalizing willful failure to pay child support, protecting children from exposure to secondhand smoke, establishing regional crisis centers for street children, and setting work hours for working children.

Two of Alfred Vargas’ bills, HB 9943 ending child marriage and HB 8998 on domestic adoption, were enacted into law.

In a separate statement, Rep. PM Vargas described the bill as “timely and responsive to the dire situation faced by children today.”

“Children today are more vulnerable to sexual predators and syndicates lurking online. The Department of Justice (DOJ) should be commended for [its] tough stance to protect our children. This bill will provide our government the legal weapon they need to address these nefarious activities,” Vargas added.

In the bill’s explanatory note, Vargas noted the need to amend the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009 because of advances in digital technology and the massive presence of children online.

“Keeping them away from the perils of predators online is an enormous challenge for the government, as well as non-government sectors,” he said.

Vargas cited a 2017 report by the United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) that eight in every ten Filipino children are at “high risk” of being online prey to abuse and exploitation.

The Vargas bill also identifies the duties of Information and Communications Technology Service Providers (ICT-SPs), to include notifying the Philippine National Police (PNP) or the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) within seven days “from obtaining facts and circumstances that any form of child pornography and online sexual exploitation is being committed using its server or facility.”

All ICT-SPs will also be required to “install available technology, program or software to ensure that access to or transmittal of any form of child pornography and sexual exploitation material will be blocked or filtered.”

Similar responsibilities are also imposed on mall owners or operators, owners or lessors of business establishments, Internet cafes, and Internet content hosts.

“We cannot, as a society, turn a blind eye to the abuse or exploitation of children. The welfare of our kids should be the government’s paramount consideration, and we have to expend all efforts at safeguarding them and their future,” Vargas added.