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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
Republic Act No. 11930 protects children from online sexual abuse and exploitation. This law recognizes the vulnerability of children and mandates special protections, including penalties and prevention programs. One of this special protection is the inclusion of extra-territorial jurisdiction under the law that allows the Philippines to prosecute certain offenses even when committed outside the country.
Republic Act No. 11930 or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) and Anti-Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM) Act declares under Section 2 that the State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, psychological and social well-being. Thus, it is the policy of the State to provide special protections to children from all forms of sexual violence, abuse and exploitation especially those committed with the use of information and communications technology (ICT), provide sanctions for their commission and carry out programs for the prevention, deterrence and intervention in all situations of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the digital and non-digital production, distribution or possession of child sexual abuse or exploitation material.
Under Section 4 of Republic Act No. 11930, it states that regardless of the consent of the child, it shall be unlawful for any person to commit the following acts through online or offline means or a combination of both:
- To hire, employ, use, persuade, induce, extort, engage, or coerce a child to perform or participate in whatever way in the creation or production of any form of OSAEC and CSAEM;
- To produce, direct, manufacture, facilitate, or create any form of CSAEM, or participate in the production, direction, manufacture, facilitation or creation of the same;
- To offer, sell, distribute, advertise, promote, export, or import, by any means, any form of CSAEM;
- To knowingly publish, transmit and broadcast, by any means, any form of CSAEM;
- To permit or influence the child to engage, participate or assist in any form of CSAEM;
- To produce, direct, create, hire, employ or pay a facilitator to stream or livestream acts of child sexual abuse or exploitation
- To stream or live-stream acts of, or any form of, child sexual abuse and exploitation;
- To recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, provide, or receive a child or to induce or influence the same, for the purpose of violating this Act;
- To introduce or match a child to a foreign national or to any person for the purpose of committing any of the offenses under this Act;
- For film distributors, theaters and ICT services by themselves or in cooperation with other entities, to distribute any form of CSAEM or to facilitate the commission of any of the offenses under this Act;
- To knowingly benefit from, financial or otherwise, the commission of any of the offenses of this Act;
- To provide a venue for the commission of prohibited acts under this section such as dens, private rooms, cubicles, cinemas, houses, private homes, or other establishments;
- To engage in the luring or grooming of a child: Provided, That grooming taking place offline as a prelude to violations under this Act shall also be penalized;
- To sexualize children by presenting them as objects of sexual fantasy, or making them conversational subjects of sexual fantasies, in any online or digital platform;
- To engage in pandering as defined under this Act;
- To willfully subscribe, join, donate to, or support an internet site that hosts OSAEC or the streaming or live-streaming of child sexual abuse and exploitation;
- To advertise, publish, print, broadcast or distribute, or cause the advertisement, publication, printing, broadcasting or distribution by any means of any brochure, flyer, or any material that promotes OSAEC and child sexual abuse or exploitation
- To possess any form of CSAEM: Provided, That possession of three (3) or more CSAEMs is prima facie evidence of the intent to sell, distribute, publish or broadcast;
- To willfully access any form of CSAEM; and
- To conspire to commit any of the prohibited acts stated in this section:
Provided, that the investigation or prosecution of offenses under this Act shall be without prejudice to appropriate investigation and prosecution mechanisms underRepublic Act No. 9208, otherwise known as the “Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003,” as amended, and other related laws.
To uphold this protective policy, Republic Act no. 11930 (RA 11930) grants the extra-territorial jurisdiction the acts penalized .
Section 14 of Republic Act No. 11930 provides that the State shall exercise jurisdiction over any act defined and penalized under this Act, even if committed outside the Philippines and whether or not such act or acts constitute an offense at the place of commission, if the offense, being a continuing offense, was either commenced in the Philippines; or committed in another country: Provided, That in the case of the latter, the suspect or accused is a Filipino citizen, a permanent resident of the Philippines, and has committed the act against a citizen of the Philippines.
No prosecution may be commenced against a person under this section if a foreign government, in accordance with jurisdiction recognized by the Philippines, has prosecuted or is prosecuting such person for the conduct constituting such offense, except upon the approval of the Secretary of Justice. (Section 14 of Republic Act No. 11930)
To guide implementation, the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 11930 reiterates the conditions for extra-territorial jurisdiction under Section 39, Rule III, it states that the Philippines shall exercise jurisdiction over any act defined and penalized under the Act, even if committed outside the Philippines and whether or not such act/s constitute an offense at the place of commission, if the offense, being a continuing offense, was commenced in the Philippines.
Further, the Philippines shall also exercise jurisdiction over any act defined and penalized under the Act if committed in another country: Provided, That the suspect or accused:
- is a Filipino citizen;
- is a permanent resident of the Philippines; or
- has committed the act against a citizen of the Philippines.
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Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding legal services, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/ 09175772207/ 09778050020.
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