US embassy cable - 05MANILA2660

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 002660 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/PMBS; G; G/TIP - NORIN, ETERNO; EAP/RSP - SU; 
INL; DRL/IL; DRL/CRA; STAS - ATKINSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KCRM, ELAB, KOCI, TINT, RP 
SUBJECT: TIP:  GRP BEGINNING TO FOCUS ON CYBERSEX DANGERS 
 
REF: A. MANILA 2200 
 
     B. MANILA 971 
     C. MANILA 702 
     D. MANILA 607 
 
1.  (U) This cable is Sensitive but Unclassified -- Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
2.  (SBU) Summary:  The Philippine government is slowly 
beginning to react to reports that cybersex is an increasing 
contributor to the trafficking in persons (TIP) problem in 
the Philippines.  Most cybersex dens operate clandestinely 
and appear to have foreign connections.  Cybersex operators 
victimize young people for easy profits paid by viewers, the 
vast majority of whom are overseas.  The Philippines does not 
have a specific law dealing with TIP-related cybersex, but a 
range of laws can be deployed to deal with aspects of the 
problem.  Some lawmakers are moving forward with possible 
legislation against cybersex in the wider context of child 
pornography.  Mission will continue to monitor this growing 
phenomenon and will work with NGOs to develop targeted 
proposals focused on fighting TIP-related cybersex.  End 
Summary. 
 
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A Spike in Growth 
----------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) The phenomenon of cybersex, wherein paying 
"customers" order "performers" to engage in sexual acts in 
real time over secure Internet connections, is a growing 
sector of the TIP problem in the Philippines.  Filipinos are 
particularly vulnerable due to readily available technology 
and local computer expertise, pervasive poverty, and the 
difficulty of detection due to lax law enforcement.  Given 
that cybersex dens are mainly clandestine, there are no 
reliable estimates of the exact nature of the problem, but 
our contacts assert unanimously that the numbers of dens and 
victims are increasing.  All estimates are informal, with 
police giving the lowest at 50 to 75 dens nationwide. 
Sources assert that the industry is earning millions of 
dollars annually.  According to resident Amcit and longtime 
anti-TIP activist Father James Reuter, Jr., cybersex is 
"growing like weeds in all parts of the Philippines."  At the 
GRP's Philippine Center for Transnational Crime, Chief 
Inspector Ercy Nanette M. Tomas echoed the comments of NGO 
leaders, informing poloff that dens are "mushrooming" 
throughout the archipelago.  According to Senator Maria Ana 
Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal, the Philippines is "ripe" for the 
advent of the cybersex industry because the country is 
already one of the world's largest producers of pornography. 
 
4.  (SBU) According to Foroogh Foyouzat, Chief of Child 
Protection at UNICEF (Philippines), Australians, Europeans 
and Americans operate most of the cybersex dens, usually in 
partnership with Filipinos.  Many of the dens operate under 
cover of legitimate Internet cafes, but others are in red 
light districts, and some are even in private homes and 
offices.  Cybersex operators, like other traffickers, often 
recruit "performers" from poverty-stricken rural areas.  Many 
of the those recruited are under 20 and some are minors. 
Operators also troll Internet chat rooms frequented by young 
people and students from schools located in Manila and other 
metropolitan areas.  The large number of 
unemployed/underemployed English-speaking youths that make 
the Philippines a prime locale for the successful call center 
industry (Ref C) is also an attraction to cybersex den 
operators who are looking for a place to locate their 
operations. 
 
5.  (U) In this new form of on-line commercial sex, the 
customer, nearly always a male living outside the 
Philippines, typically charges at least USD 2 per minute to 
his credit card to watch one or more victims act on his 
orders.  Operators pressure and reward performers to sustain 
viewers' interest for as long as possible.  Performers rarely 
make more than USD 4 per day and work conditions are poor. 
Many observers and some victims consider cybersex a 
relatively anodyne source of income, however.  Prostitutes 
often prefer cybersex to their traditional trade due to its 
higher pay, convenience and relative safety.  Prositutes, for 
example, have noted to NGO workers the impossibility of 
contracting sexually transmitted diseases in cybersex 
"encounters" and, due to time zone differences, the daytime 
work schedules are attractive.  Nonetheless, there is 
evidence that performers who are above the age of consent are 
lured into the trade and then coerced to stay in the dens. 
6.  (U) Some customers often prefer to exploit minors.  Many 
parents have little understanding of the technology and are 
therefore less able to detect the abuse.  Other parents are 
complicit with operators and maintain that the absence of 
physical contact belies any purported harm to the child. 
There are no estimates of hte numbers of child victims. 
 
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Current State of GRP Law 
------------------------ 
 
7.  (U) Philippine law does not yet specifically address 
TIP-related cybersex and we are not aware of any convictions 
of den operators.  Contacts have told us that prosecutors can 
use the following existing statutes against alleged operators 
of cybersex dens if certain circumstances are met: 
 
-- Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code prescribes fines of 
up to 12,000 pesos (USD 223) and six to 12 years imprisonment 
for "exhibition of indecent shows."  This law penalizes 
victims and pornographers, but has no provision for customers. 
 
-- Republic Act (R.A.) 7610, the Child Abuse law, provides up 
to 12 years imprisonment for those who "hire, employ, use, 
persuade, induce or coerce a child to perform in obscene 
exhibitions and indecent shows, whether they are live or on 
video." 
 
-- R.A. 8042, the Anti-Illegal Recruitment law, provides 
fines of 1 million pesos (USD 18,519) and life imprisonment 
for the illegal recruitment of minors. 
 
-- R.A. 8792, the Electronic Commerce law of 2000, covers 10 
types of computer crimes, although it is silent on cybersex. 
 
-- R.A. 9208, the Anti-Trafficking law, provides punishment 
of up to 20 years imprisonment for those who promote 
"indecent shows, information technology, or by whatever 
means, of a person engaged in real or simulated explicit 
sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts 
of a person primarily for sexual purposes."  This is the most 
comprehensive and relevant law enacted since the advent of 
the Internet, but most prosecutors are still unfamiliar with 
it. 
 
-- R.A. 9321, the Anti-Child Labor law, prohibits most 
employment of children below 15 and guarantees the 
protection, health and safety of child workers (Ref B, para 
4). 
 
8.  (U) Legislators are beginning to speak out about the 
problem.  Senators Madrigal and Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. are 
sponsoring hearings on child pornography, for example. 
Madrigal confirmed to poloff June 6 that she plans to sponsor 
new legislation that would deal specifically with TIP-related 
cybersex in the context of forbidding the possession of any 
form of child pornography.  Madrigal was not optimistic, 
however, about the GRP's capacity to implement even existing 
laws, commenting that: "No matter how well the police do 
their jobs, nothing happens due to lack of law enforcement 
capabilities and the slowness of the judiciary."    On the 
House side, Representative Joseph Santiago has drafted a bill 
imposing up to 15 years of imprisonment for cybersex den 
operators. 
 
------------------------- 
The GRP's Nascent Efforts 
------------------------- 
 
9.  (SBU) As flagged above, the GRP is having difficulty 
grappling with cybersex and its TIP-related aspects, though 
it is aware of the growing problem and has pledged to take 
action.  The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking -- the 
highest GRP body dealing with trafficking -- has not yet 
taken any specific moves to deal with cybersex.  The 
Interagency Council for the Welfare of Children is aware of 
the problem, but also has not yet taken any concrete actions. 
 The Department of Social Welfare and Development has 
integrated anti-pornography education into its child 
protection strategy, however. 
 
10.  (SBU) The Presidential Anti-Illegal Recruitment Task 
Force (PAIRTF) has pursued cybersex operators more vigorously 
than any other GRP agency.  On May 25, PAIRTF agents, acting 
on a warrant, raided two cybersex dens in Quezon City, in 
Metro Manila.  The PAIRTF team rescued seven women, arrested 
two Filipinos, and killed the two Dutch proprietors, who 
allegedly drew guns on the PAIRTF team.  Despite these 
actions, law enforcement has generally not been able to keep 
pace with the problem.  Operators can readily adopt the 
latest hardware and now even use encryption.  At the same 
time, austere budgets, lack of training, and corruption 
constrain the police.  There are indications, for example, 
but no hard evidence, that local government officials in some 
regions may be protecting dens and profiting from them. 
Efren Meneses, Head of the Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes 
Division of the National Bureau of Investigation, laments his 
office's lack of both computers and cooperation from Internet 
service providers.  Few lawyers and police officers are 
familiar with procedures for electronic evidence.  Some local 
governments have taken the initiative to fight the problem. 
For example, the government in Isabela Province located 
northeast of Manila has formed an interagency group to 
address cybersex issues. 
 
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Comment 
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11.  (SBU) All of our contacts agree that cybersex is 
widespread and growing.  Officials realize that cybersex den 
operators currently have the upper hand and that cybersex is 
a contributing factor in TIP.  As the GRP tries to deal with 
the problem, the most critical areas where improvement is 
needed include:  enhanced training for police, prosecutors 
and judges; a specific law that prosecutors can apply to 
TIP-related scenarios; collection of statistics so the scope 
of the problem can be assessed and progress against it 
examined via metrics; and increased assistance to victims. 
The GRP and NGOs already operate anti-TIP programs and would 
welcome assistance to fight cybersex.  Philippine NGOs are 
willing and, given the necessary funding, would be able to 
assist the GRP in this area (Ref A).  Mission will continue 
to monitor this growing phenomenon and will work with NGOs to 
develop targeted proposals focused on fighting TIP-related 
cybersex.  Mission is also providing Filipinos information on 
the U.S. PROTECT Act of 2003, which strengthens U.S. law 
enforcement's ability to prevent, investigate, prosecute and 
punish violent crimes committed against children, including 
those that involve U.S. citizens and have an international 
nexus. 
MUSSOMELI