3 weeks ago
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CEBU CITY — A few taps, a few clicks, and viewers can enter a world of explicit contents. This is how easy one can enter a porn site online.
Local officials, however, want to regulate its access in the city.
Concerned about the easy access to online pornography, the Cebu City Council is pushing for stricter internet filters on public Wi-Fi.
Councilors are urging operators of city-initiated Wi-Fi services, as well as hotels and malls offering free connectivity, to block access to adult content, citing the risks it poses to minors and the broader community.
Councilor Joel Garganera said that businesses and institutions providing internet access should take responsibility in filtering obscene contents.
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He pointed out that while the city government currently offers free public Wi-Fi at Plaza Independencia and Plaza Sugbu, the initiative is set to expand across all 80 barangay (villages), making it even more crucial to implement protective measures.
In a privilege speech during the council's session, Councilor Pastor Jun Alcover called for a multi-sectoral response, urging the church, the national government, and lawmakers to take concrete action.
Seeking a coordinated response to the spread of erotic contents online, the city council has set a March 5 executive session to discuss measures against cyber pornography.
Alcover has invited representatives from key agencies, including the Department of Information and Communications Technology, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Meta-Cebu, which operates major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
Alcover also urged the Cebu City Police Office to intensify its crackdown on cyber pornography, pointing to Republic Act 10364, which defines pornography as any form of representation depicting explicit sexual acts or body parts for sexual purposes.
He raised concerns over the increasing number of vloggers producing sexually suggestive contents for online engagement, making such material readily accessible to both minors and adults.
Alcover warned that the prevalence of explicit online content is contributing to rising cases of rape involving children and incidents of child abduction. He expressed frustration over what he described as society's failure to acknowledge the gravity of the issue.
Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera echoed these concerns, saying the widespread exposure to explicit material reflects a deepening moral decline.
She highlighted the role of social media algorithms in continuously pushing explicit content to users based on their viewing habits.
She also urged parents to be vigilant in monitoring what their children access online.
Pesquera further advised parents to be cautious when posting photos of their children on social media, warning that such images could be exploited.
Councilor Philip Zafra, meanwhile, pointed out that while traditional media, such as television, is subject to regulation by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, social media remains largely unregulated.
He stressed the need for intervention from the national government to address this oversight.
