Calls for an Internet porn crackdown in the Philippines have ramped up this week, ever since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared war on Net porn January 31.
But those who want the crackdown say there's no specific law now to support it, though there's a pending measure that would all but give Arroyo the war she wants.
Arroyo spoke amidst reaction to recent raids on cybercafes which have facilitated sexual activity or where patrons arrange it, calling such cafes “cybersex dens.”
Current Filipino law covers anti-human trafficking, which isn't enough to prosecute those caught passing porn online, according to one government official who spoke anonymously to reporters in the island archipelago nation.
The proposed cybercrime law, according to author Sen. Ramon Revilla, Jr., would toughen the existing Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 to outlaw using high-tech equipment for Internet porn.
"At present, proliferation of pornographic materials through traditional and new mediums are not clearly punishable," Revilla said of his measure. "And if they are punishable, the penalties are [so] inconsequential that perpetrators are not deterred from pursuing their immoral and indecent activities."
