CEBU, Philippines – A court in Lapu-Lapu City on Wednesday, February 19, sentenced 3 women for livestreaming the sexual abuse of minors.

Lapu-Lapu City Regional Trial Court Judge Christine Muga-Abad sentenced 
the 3 online traffickers to between 23 and 36 years in prison and ordered them to pay P600,000 in damages for violating the following:

• Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (Repubic Act No. 9208 as amended by RA 10364)
• Anti-Child Pornography Act (RA 9775), Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175)
• and Anti-Child Abuse Law (RA 7610)

The names of the convicts were not released to the public.


The rescue operation took place in 2016 and was conducted by the Philippine National Police’s Women and Children’s Protection Center. 

“Every child has the right to live in a safe environment. Pursuant to it is the government’s relentless efforts and the valuable assistance of organizations such as IJM towards the protection of our children,” said Public Prosecutor Antonio Aseniero, who prosecuted this sex trafficking case.

The International Justice Mission or IJM has been working with local authorities in rescuing victims of sex trafficking and campaigning against the sexual exploitation of women and children.

On February 7, another woman – also from Lapu-Lapu City – was convicted of online sex trafficking and sentenced to 17 years in prison. 

Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova town are known hot spots for online sex trafficking in the province.

The public can report suspected online sex trafficking cases to the Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC) office by texting ENDOSEC (space) (incident details) to 7444-64 for Smart subscribers; or directly connect with the Women and Children’s Protection Center at (032) 410-8483 for Visayas, and 0917-180-6037 or 0928-604-6425 for Mindanao. – Rappler.com