ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE – It was ruthless. It was inhuman. It was Godforsaken. A police officer said upon the rescue of children who were victims of cybersex in a remote town of this province.
The children victims of cybersex and they were sold to foreign costumers or pedophiles through the internet.
This was how Police Lt. Colonel Christine Tan, commander of the police’s Women and Children Protection Center-Mindanao Field Unit, described her reaction as she led the rescue of 7 children, the youngest is three years old and the oldest is 15, being used for cyber sexual exploitation in Labason Municipality, Zamboanga del Norte, last February 10.
“The saddest part is that the two masterminds are the grandmother and the mother of the children ages three, four and five,” revealed Tan, whose unit is based in Zamboanga City.
She also said “the lola denied she has a hand on the alleged crime, and pointed at her still at large daughter who she said is behind the sexual exploitation victimizing their own family members”.
The rest of the victims were sisters of the suspect still at large, said Tan, who led the entrapment and rescue operation participated in by the Regional Anti-Cyber Crime Unit 9 and other units based in Zamboanga del Norte.
The police officer recalled that they were acting on an intelligence report shared by the Australian Federal Police that apprehended a pedophile and his computers showed the places throughout the world where he sexually exploited children, which included Labason.
Tan said she ordered for the surveillance at the target area and learned that the grandmother’s social media account was used in their cybersex business, in which her daughter would collect between P2,000 to P5,000 depending on what the “client” wants.
“The lowest is when the victims get naked in front of the camera and the highest is performing shows that include gross sexual acts,” Tan said.
She added that after securing a search warrant, they immediately launched the operation and confiscated the computers and cellphones used by the suspects.
“We just jumped in, we didn’t wait to rescue the victims on the act, they have enough of that. Anyway, we already have pieces of evidence during the surveillance, we have the gadgets they were using and the evidence sent by the Australian Federal Police, yes we have a tight case,” Tan said.
The victims were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Tan stressed that they used to believe that cyber crime is committed in advanced urban areas, but now it has encroached in remote rural areas like Labason.
She noted, however, that this is the first cyber sexual exploitation case in Zamboanga Peninsula that involve children. On April 28, 2017, National Bureau of Investigation agents rescued three women from cybersex den in Dipolog City.
Asked why our society failed to protect our children, is it the failure of education or failure of religion, Tan answered, and added, “perhaps we are just carried by the fast technological breakthroughs. We can access the internet anywhere we are, we can easily receive remittances from anywhere in the world and daily survival is getting difficult with the pandemic”.
