eng - World Organisation Against Torture

failing to report abuse; unauthorised disclosureof information relating to child sexualabuse; and abetting, conniving orencouraging a child to delinquency.RA No. 7610, as a landmark piece of legislationfor the protection of children, providesstronger deterrence and protection againstchild abuse, exploitation and discrimination,including those who are being prostituted orare in danger of being prostituted. It laysdown mandatory reporting in cases of rapeor abuse. RA No. 7610 mandates teachers,school administrators, law enforcers and officialsat the barangay or village level andother government workers to report all incidentsof possible abuse to the Department ofSocial Welfare and Development (DSWD),the government agency mandated by theRPC and Executive Order No. 56 to takeprotective custody of children in prostitutionand sexually exploited children.4.1.2. Practice: Commercial SexualExploitation of Children, ChildProstitution, Child Sex Tourism andTraffickingOf the reported 1.5 million street children inthe Philippines, 60,000 are prostituted. Thismakes the Philippines the fourth in nine countrieswith the most number of children in prostitution.Based on a report that 20% of the50,000 prostituted women are minors,UNICEF provides a higher estimate: thatthere are 100,000 girls in the country. TheDSWD, on the other hand, claims that the annualaverage increase of prostituted childrenis 3,266. It also reported a more than 100%increase in the case of sexually abused andexploited children. Rape constituted thirty-sixpercent (36%) of the reported cases, whilechild prostitution and paedophilia accountedfor twelve percent (12%). The government hasalready ordered the crackdown on paedophiles,but the move, however, was not toprotect the children, but - quoting formerPresident Fidel V. Ramos - to “correct wrongperceptions about the Philippines, especiallyin the tourism industry.” Ironically, childprostitution is highest in areas that are highlydependent on tourism, such as Puerto Galerain Mindoro, Pagsanjan in Laguna, Cebu andBaguio City, and Boracay Island in Aklan.17