Manila: Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Friday renewed calls for the Senate to pass a strengthened measure against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC). She also urged the Senate leadership to move the measure forward and refocus legislative discussions on child protection concerns. 'Kami dito sa Senado, dapat nating tigilan ang pag-aaksaya ng panahon sa usapin ng videoconferencing ng mga Senador, at tutukan na ang mga mahahalaga at totoong isyu, tulad ng pag-aabuso sa ating mga bata (We in the Senate should stop wasting time on issues such as videoconferencing for senators and instead focus on important and real issues such as the abuse of our children)," Hontiveros said.
According to Philippines News Agency, Hontiveros made the appeal after the Philippines ranked 15th out of 60 countries in the 2026 Out of the Shadows Index, a global benchmark assessing governments' response to sexual violence against children and adolescents. 'Ranking 15th in the global index on child sexual violence response is certainly not satisfactory. Hindi ito sapat. Hindi pwedeng nag-na-number two tayo bilang global hotspot ng online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, pero sa pag-responde ay ganito kababa (This is not enough. We cannot be the No. 2 global hotspot for online sexual abuse and exploitation of children while ranking this low in responding to it)," she said in a statement.
She said the Senate must prioritize passage of the proposed strengthened anti-OSAEC law, which seeks to address emerging forms of abuse, including AI-generated child sexual abuse materials and sexual extortion targeting minors. 'It all the more makes it urgent for us in the Senate to pass the strengthened Anti-OSAEC Law that we, together with law enforcement and other stakeholders, are currently working on,' Hontiveros said.
'Sa gitna ng kaguluhan sa Senado, pilit po nating tinatrabaho ito dahil malaki ang banta ng AI sa ating mga anak (Amid the turmoil in the Senate, we continue to work on this because AI poses a major threat to our children)," she added. Hontiveros noted that the bill has already been approved by the House of Representatives and is now at the period of amendments in the Senate, but its progress has stalled after the chairpersonship of the Senate Committee on Women and Children was declared vacant.
'Nasa period of amendments na ang bill, final stage na (The bill is already in period of amendments, it's in the final stage). But the bill is now in limbo because the chairpersonship for the Committee on Women and Children was declared vacant,' she said. According to UNICEF, around 2 million Filipino children were subjected to online sexual abuse and exploitation in 2021.
