SEXUALLY ABUSED AND SEXUALLY EXPLOITED CHILDREN IN THE PHILIPPINES

Pedophiles and Internet perverts be warned. 

In 2009, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed into law the Anti-Hentai Bill Republic Act No. 9775 or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, a law that penalizes offenders with a one-month imprisonment to a life sentence, along with a fine of  300,000 to 5 million Philippine pesos. In short, this law will penalize persons in possession of any representation of a child engaged or involved in a real or simulated explicit sexual activity. Owning child porn pics and child porn videos, or even  browsing a child porn website in a Philippine Internet cafe will get you imprisoned in the Philippines. And together with Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, the Philippines is now a safe haven for children.

Theoretically.

In March, 2011, Cagayan De Oro City, Southern Philippines,  charges were filed against a former Police officer. The minors claimed that they were forced by the policeman to participate in group sex. The Policeman faced one count of rape and 11 counts of child abuse, but he denied the accusations and fled. Consequently, the local government offered a Php 100,000.00 reward for any information regarding his arrest.

In December 2011, a Swedish court sentenced a man to five years prison for raping a five year old girl. According to court documents, upon his arrest, the man had already purchased a ticket to the Philippines and planned to sexually assault more children during his trip.


To date, the Philippines is the fourth country with the most number of prostituted children, and authorities have identified an increase in child molesters travelling to the Philippines. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates 60,000 to 100,000 Filipino children are involved in prostitution. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates about 100,000 children are involved in prostitution. There are estimated to be 375,000.00 women and girl prostitutes in the Philippines, mostly between the ages of 15 and 20.  Some are even as young as 11.


That's not all. The Philippines National police estimates that one Filipino child is raped every 2 hours.

Yet the cases of child abuse and sexual exploitation in the Philippines still tend to be under-reported for many reasons.  

Filipino children are often threatened against reporting the crime by the persons who committed the crime. In many cases, the victims believe that the sex crime is their fault because their families, media and society tend to blame victims of sexual abuse and exploitation for the crime. Consequently, these children feel ashamed and guilty and would rather not report these crimes against them to Filipino authorities. Poverty also often contributes to this problem, as many Filipino children allow themselves to become prostitutes in brothels who offer them a way to earn money. Prostitution is one of many types of sexual exploitation Filipino children face. The number of local road side brothels have blossomed in the Philippines in the recent years because of the Government's lack of political will to ban these establishments and to enforce the laws they made to protect the rights of Filipino children.

Parents, be warned!

Sources:

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/world/12/27/11/man-jailed-sweden-child-rape-philippines 

http://www.unescap.org/esid/hds/sexual/philippines.pdf  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_the_Philippines 

http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1992/ra_7610_1992.html 

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2011/03/31/pnp-offers-bounty-on-cop-in-rape-child-abuse-cases/ 

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/metro-manila/03/13/12/child-rape-cases-sow-fear 

http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/09/statistics-on-various-crimes-against-women-alarming-%E2%80%93-cwr/ 

Sports and Children

The most valuable thing that children gain from sports is character - not medals.

The fancy medals athletes win in International sports competitions are petty pieces of metal designed to make people glorify perfection and hate failure.

But you see, to give out momentary and petty rewards to winners and despise losers has always been the fad in human history. The Roman Senate gave the purple and gold toga, the laurel crown, and the Roman Triumph, to their victorious generals and yet they either exiled, admonished, ridiculed or stabbed to death their losing generals. Genghis Khan gave gold, land and captured women to his bravest warriors and yet he often mutilated his weakest ones.

However, a medal or reward only symbolizes the achievement of the winner, an achievement acquired through years of constant failure, learning and practice. In the first place, a champion cannot earn either a medal or reward if he did not have his share of losses. A child learns to cry before he learns to laugh. He should learn to walk before he learns to run.

Sports builds character. It can teach your child to accept failure and learn from his mistakes. Athletes call this humility and perseverance, two important values that build the character of any champion.

To learn Tae Kwon Do, your child should first learn stepping before kicking. He should first learn to position his feet and master basic stances before he learns basic kicks. In fact, it will take years for him to master the art of stepping before he masters the art of Tae Kwon Do. So, in the process of learning this combat sport, he will have to endure hundreds of hours of constant practice and repetition under the strict and able guidance of an instructor. Without humility and perseverance, your child will not be able to do this.

Football is the same thing. a child should first learn ball control before he learns how to kick the football. A football coach will first teach him and drill him on how to move and control the football ball using his foot, knees, shoulders, heads, and chest before he teaches him how to either kick the football in a penalty shootout or how receive the football from his team mate while observing the offside rule.Without humility and perseverance, your child will not be able to do this.

Then again, sports can teach your child other values like responsibility, loyalty, self confidence and patience. And unlike adult past times like smoking, gambling, and heckling, sports will definitely improve the physical fitness of your child.

So get your child into sports. Let him choose the sport he wants to play and support him all the way. And don't forget to praise him whenever he fails and challenge him to improve whenever he wins.

After all, your child's character is worth more than a thousand medals.