Senator Risa Hontiveros has called for the immediate passage of the Child Online Safety and Protection Act, an expanded version of the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (Anti-OSAEC) Law, to equip the government with stronger legal tools against the growing threat of Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE).
The bill is currently under the period of amendments in the Senate, while it has already passed third reading in the House of Representatives.
Hontiveros said the measure should be certified as urgent amid the alarming rise of NVE.
‘This bill should be certified as urgent. NVE is an alarming new trend that needs immediate action,’ she said in a press statement.
She said the passage of the amended Anti-OSAEC bill would provide law enforcement agencies with the necessary legal tools to arrest suspects and hold those responsible for such acts accountable.
‘Let us not wait for school shootings to increase before we act,’ she added.
Hontiveros led a hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality on NVE, where she stressed that the Senate has a rare opportunity to close legal gaps that could be exploited within digital ecosystems to groom, radicalize, and push children toward violence.
She said that while OSAEC and NVE are distinct threats, both can be facilitated through the same digital platforms, lack of monitoring and early detection, and failure to protect children.
If passed, the bill would impose penalties for various forms of technology-facilitated violence against children, including both sexual and non-sexual abuse.
Hontiveros was one of the authors of the original Anti-OSAEC Law and has continued to call for its full and faithful implementation through Senate oversight.
‘We authored the Anti-OSAEC law to shield our children from different forms of online abuse and exploitation. Now that there is a new threat against them, it is our duty to address it without hesitation,’ Hontiveros added