Woman selling minors’ nude photos online held
A20-year-old woman was arrested in Talisay City for selling nude photos of her two sisters, aged 16 and 17, online. Regional Anti-Cybercrime Office (RACO) Director for Central Visayas Chief Insp. Leo Dofiles said on Friday the woman was negotiating with foreign clients through private messages on Facebook, charging up to P5,000 for a batch of photos.
He said his office had been tracking her since last September.
A RACO member posed as a Caucasian customer on Facebook who wanted to buy nude photos of her two sisters, who are reportedly students.
The two minors were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional office, along with the woman’s two-year-old and nine-month-old children.
The police withheld the names of those involved to protect the identity of the minors.
The operation was jointly conducted by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, Cebu Provincial Public Safety Company, Talisay Police Station’s Women and Children Protection Desk, Special Weapons and Tactics, International Justice Mission and DSWD.
The woman faces charges for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act, Child Pornography Act, Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act and the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons.
The woman, who has been denied bail, said in an interview poverty drove her to online sexual exploitation, She said her husband did not earn enough driving a cycle rickshaw, locally known as trisikad, and she used the money from the illegal online business to buy food and milk for her children.
In Bindoy town, Negros Oriental, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recently rescued a 15year-old girl working in a store selling secondhand apparel, or ukay-ukay.
In a report to DOLE Central Visayas Acting Regional Director Cyril Ticao, the labor and employment department's chief in Negros Oriental Marites Mercado said the girl had been working for a month at the store, whose owner was identified as Richard Baena.
“The report reached us after a concerned shopper of Botchard’s Ukay-ukay Stall relayed the sighting of a child laborer at the store to the Philippine National Police in Dumaguete City, which also coordinated with the appropriate offices such as that of the city’s Welfare Development Office and Casa Esperanza,” Mercado said in a statement released Friday.
Apart from employing a minor, which is a violation of the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, the employer also violated General Labor Standards (GLS) regulations such as underpayment and non-payment of overtime, 13th month pay, holiday pay and premium pay.
The girl said she wanted to continue her schooling and become a teacher someday.
To help her realize her dream, DOLE gave her P15,000, which she said she would use to raise and breed goats while waiting for the opening of the next school year.