BACOLOD City Councilor Em Ang urged the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Bacolod to strictly enforce the cybercrime law.
Ang, who authored the resolution for the purpose passed by the City Council, said the BCPO and NBI should enforce Republic Act (RA) 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
She said Bacolod is identified as one of the cybersex hotspots in the country, according to the data of Women and Children Protection Center-Operation Management Division based in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
“There is a need to strictly enforce the RA 10175 in order to safeguard, preserve, and protect the residents especially the minors of Bacolod City against the perpetrators of cybercrimes,” the councilor said.
Superintendent Maria Shiela Portento, head of Women and Children Protection Center-Operation Management Division based in Camp Crame, had earlier said that Bacolod is considered a “place of interest” after three cases in a short span of time was reported.
On May 5, the mother of three victims was caught offering one of her daughters to an online predator from Australia while another girl was rescued in the second operation after her mother exploited her to a customer in the United States.
Two months later, six minors, including a two-year-old boy, and a female adult were rescued while a woman, who exploited her two minor children and two nieces, was arrested on July 13.
Portento said that when these reports bear the same locations, it’s an indicator that the locality is a hot spot. (MAP)