Drive vs. cybersex intensifies

Village Chief Darnayla believes more cybersex dens are there, vows to work with police

THE chief of Barangay Basak in Lapu-Lapu City vowed to work closely with the police to stop the operation of cybersex dens in the barangay.

Two women were arrested in Basak last Friday and Saturday for allegedly exposing a 10-yearold girl to cyber-pornography.

Basak Barangay Captain Isabelo Darnayla said there might be more cybersex dens operating in the barangay.

Last year, he warned almost 60 house owners reportedly involved in cyber-pornography.

“Ako gyud na silang gihadlok. Ang uban niundang, pero ang uban mura’g nipadayon gihapon (I already warned them. Some stopped, but others may still be doing it),” he told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.

Last Friday night, operatives from the Marigondon Police Station and representatives from the Children’s Legal Bureau arrested Marivic Bensi, 33, at her house, hours after a girl and her grandmother sought help from barangay officials.

Instructed

Nida (real name withheld) said her aunt, Chona Ando, 36, brought her to Bensi’s house in Sitio Sudtunggan last Friday afternoon. There, they asked her to pose naked in front of a computer and a video camera and do all sorts of obscene things.

When the girl returned home, she told her grandmother what Ando and Bensi did to her.

They then went to the barangay hall. After hearing the complaint, Darnayla said he immediately called the police.

Authorities went to Bensi’s house past 7 p.m. They arrested her and gathered evidence including a laptop, a computer monitor, a video camera, a flash drive and a pair of computer speakers.

The arrest was made on the same day twelve girls and a boy were rescued by social workers and agents of the National Bu- reau of Investigation in Cordova.

Ando was arrested at her house in Barangay Ibabao, Cordova last Saturday morning.

The women were detained at the holding cell of the LapuLapu City Police Office.

It was the first anti-cybersex operation in Lapu-Lapu, which is adjacent to Cordova.

Signal

In a press statement, Mayor Paz Radaza commended Basak officials and the police for the arrest.

“The quick arrest sends a signal that the City will never tolerate such kind of illegal activity to thrive in our place. I condemn in the highest possible term this brutal abuse of our children and women,” she said.

She called on her constituents to report cybersex operations in their neighborhood.

Earlier, Radaza expressed dismay after two students in one of the high schools in Lapu-Lapu were mistaken to be victims of cyberporn.

She said the agencies behind the rescue operation last Friday did not coordinate with local officials.

She expressed concern about the effect the operation might have on the students.

In a press conference she called after the rescue operation, she said she had not received any reports that there were cyberporn activities in the city.

Darnayla said Nida, a Grave 5 pupil, is now under the protective custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Nida has lived with her grandmother since her father died and her mother re-married.

Darnayla said he is willing to help the authorities apprehend other residents involved in cyberpornography.

He said he plans to come up with a list of children reportedly being used for cyberporn.

Authorities can talk to the children in their schools and get statements needed for the arrest and filing of complaints against perpetrators of cyberporn.