The Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009

BACKGROUND

Senate Bill No. 2317 entitled "An Act Prohibiting Child Pornography, Imposing Penalties for the Commission Thereof and for Other Purposes" passed the Third and Final Reading last November 24, 2008. All Senators unanimously voted for the approval. The Bill has been forwarded to the lower house for concurrence.

In the House of Representatives, House Bill No.644o entitled "An Act Defining the Crime of Child Pornography, Prescribing Penalties Thereof, and for Other Purposes" has passed First Reading. The Committee on Justice, Committee on the Welfare of Children and Committee on Appropriations has reviewed and forwarded the same for consideration by the Plenary for Second Reading. Once the lower house version has passed Second and Third Reading, a bi-cameral session will be held to come-up with a consolidated version of the Senate Bill and House Bill.

An Open Letter to the President has been finalized by the Core Group on Child Pornography of the Sub-Committee on Sexual Abuse and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (SC SACSEC) under the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC).

Intended to be printed on the Philippine Daily Inquirer on 26 July 2009, (a day before the State of the Nation Address [SONA]), this letter is calling for a Presidential Certification of the Anti-Pornography Act of 2009 as a priority bill of this administration.

Here is a copy of the open letter.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

Dear Madame President,

We, the concerned organizations and individuals working for children’s rights and welfare, strongly appeal for the consideration of the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009 as a priority bill for passage during your administration.

Senate Bill No. 2317 entitled “An Act Prohibiting Child Pornography, Imposing Penalties for the Commission Thereof and for Other Purposes" passed the Third and Final Reading last November 24, 2008. All Senators unanimously voted for the approval. This Bill has been forwarded to the lower house for concurrence.

In the House of Representatives, House Bill No.6440 entitled "An Act Defining the Crime of Child Pornography, Prescribing Penalties Thereof, and for Other Purposes" has passed First Reading. As of May 28, 2009, the Committee on Justice, Committee on the Welfare of Children and Committee on Appropriations has reviewed and forwarded the same for consideration by the Plenary for Second Reading.

Child Pornography is a grave violation of the Rights of the Child. The use of children and young people in pornographic materials demeans their intrinsic worth and dignity as human beings. It reduces them into commercial sexual objects. The internet is the new playground for pedophiles and sex offenders who lure and groom children into becoming victims of child pornography.

We commend the Government of the Philippines ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and other relevant international instruments and treaties. However, the continued proliferation of child pornography in the Philippines and around the world indicates that more action needs to be taken. The absence of a comprehensive law to prevent and respond to child pornography has negated most efforts to protect children and paved the way for the continued perpetuation of this crime.

As a nation, we cannot afford to lose the gains we have made for the Filipino Child. Neither can we let go of the pride we have in measuring up to the expectations of the Filipino Child. Together, we must effectively and decisively respond to the needs of the Filipino Child.

Madame President, we reiterate our appeal for the certification of the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009 as a priority bill of the Administration.

In the best interest of the Filipino Child,

Lunduyan para sa Pagpapalaganap, Pagtataguyod at Pagtatanggol ng Karapatang Pambata

SPREAD THE WORD AND/OR HELP GENERATE PLEDGES IN WHATEVER AMOUNT WITHIN THE NEXT 10 DAYS BEGINNING JULY 01 FOR THE PRINTING.

Deposit pledges to:
Metrobank 20th Avenue Branch
Acct: # 7-320-50470-4

Fax deposit slip with full name and contact number of depositor to: 9117867
Lunduyan will immediately acknowledge and send you a copy of the receipt.

Lunduyan para sa Pagpapalaganap, Pagtataguyod at Pagtatanggol ng Karapatang Pambata(Lunduyan)
Chair, Sub-Committee on Sexual Abuse and Commercial Exploitation of Children (SC SACSEC)
c/o: Irene Fonacier Fellizar – 09175312252 or Nelia Dychinco Sevidal – 09206349841

LAST CALL FOR DONATIONS

We will be distributing the goods to the Sikatvill school kids on July 10. And we will be accepting donations until tomorrow, June 30. So if you plan to share, please get in touch with me or Dino to arrange pick up or drop off details.

The kids we are helping swelled from 40 to more than 100. The daycare center in Sikatvill is said to be absorbing some of the children who belong to the demolished communities by the railroad tracks. Initially, we thought of conducting a daily feeding program for a month. But due to the latest developments, we will most probably use the cash to make sure all 100+ children get their school supplies.

First things first: I would like to thank (a million times over) the numerous people who have helped by giving money, giving food, giving supplies, expertise, moral support, kind words and encouragement. I can't name everyone right now, there are too many, but you know who you are. The children will surely be very grateful and happy for your help.

In case there are people who want to extend last minute help, we need more of these: envelope bags, notebooks, pad paper, eraser, crayons, ruler, paste/glue, water color, ballpens, scissors, milk packs, water bottles, short brown envelopes and short plastic envelopes.

We also plan to give the children some snacks during the event. We will be serving milk (thanks to Maroz) and, most probably, sandwiches. If anyone wants to sponsor the food, we will be grateful. Right now we need about 30 milk packs (single serve), and about a hundred servings of sandwiches :)

If you want to join us on Friday, please don't be shy and come! Extra hands are always welcome. Besides, Dino and I are nice people :)

Finally, I'm excited to announce that we have a couple of new activities up our sleeves. One of them is a pretty regular and mobile event that aims to entertain and nourish underprivileged Filipino children. We will be meeting with a new partner over the weekend to finalize details. We are certainly hoping that more people will volunteer their time, expertise or resources so we can extend more help to more children.

Please come to this concert and bring your donations for Isang Bata

Reposting a news article from the BBC

WORLD HUNGER 'HITS ONE BILLION'

One billion people throughout the world suffer from hunger, a figure which has increased by 100 million because of the global financial crisis, says the UN.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said the figure was a record high.

Persistently high food prices have also contributed to the hunger crisis.

The director general of the FAO said the level of hunger, one-sixth of the world's population, posed a "serious risk" to world peace and security.

The UN said almost all of the world's undernourished live in developing countries, with the most, some 642 million people, living in the Asia-Pacific region.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the next worst-hit region, the figure stands at 265 million.

Just 15 million people are left hungry in the developed world.

"The silent hunger crisis - affecting one-sixth of all of humanity - poses a serious risk for world peace and security," said Jacques Diouf.

"We urgently need to forge a broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger in the world and to take the necessary actions."

'Contradiction'

The increase in the number of hungry people was blamed on lower incomes and increased unemployment, which in turn reduced access to food by the poor, the UN agency said.

But it contrasted sharply with evidence that much of the developed world is richer than ever before.

"It's the first time in human history that we have so many hungry people in the world," said FAO spokesman Kostas Stamoulis, director of the organisation's development department.

"And that's a contradiction, because a lot of the world is very rich despite the economic crisis."

Mr Diouf urged governments to provide development and economic assistance to boost agriculture, particularly by smallholder farmers.

"Investment in agriculture must be increased because for the majority of poor countries a healthy agricultural sector is essential to overcome poverty and hunger and is a pre-requisite for overall economic growth," he said.

Urban suffering

The UK's international development ministry (Dfid) said the figures were "a scandal" and said it was helping some of the poorest farmers in the world to boost the amount of food they produce.

"In the last year we have pledged more than £900 million to lift millions out of hunger to help farmers boost agriculture production," a Dfid spokesman said.

The UN warns that poor people living in cities will probably face the most severe problems in coping with the global recession, because lower export demand and reduced foreign investment are likely to hit urban jobs harder.

Many migrants to urban areas would be likely to return to rural areas, it added, transferring the burden.

Incomes have also dropped "substantially" in some developing countries where families depend on remittances from relatives working abroad.

With the financial crisis hitting all parts of the world more or less simultaneously, developing countries have less room to adjust, the UN agency says.

Food prices

Among the pressures is the reality that borrowing from international capital markets is "more limited" in a global crisis, the FAO said.

Food costs in developing countries now seem more expensive, despite prices in world markets declining during the food and fuel crisis of 2006-08, it added.

They remained on average 24% higher in real terms by the end of 2008 compared to 2006.

"For poor consumers, who spend up to 60% of their incomes on staple foods, this means a strong reduction in their effective purchasing power," the FAO said.

Press release for back-to-school project

Project launched to help poor preschool children go to school

14 June 2009, Quezon City – The month of June in the country signifies the start of the school year. But for many underprivileged preschool children in the metropolis like Muntinlupa, their education will take a backseat for necessities such as food and rent (shelter). This situation contributes to the spinning of the poverty cycle.

Send-a-Child-to-School project was launched to address the formal education needs of 40 disadvantaged children, initially, from an urban poor community in Muntinlupa. Send-a-Child-to-School is spearheaded by Ime Aznar in partnership with Akap Bata Sectoral Organization, under its Early Childhood Care and Development Program. The program focuses on curriculum and materials development, training, repairs and maintenance of day care centers, and nutrition.

“As a resident of the city and a mother to a four-year-old boy, the difference between my own child and those children I see out on the streets are depressingly stark. There must be something we can do aside from feel bad,” Aznar says. “If we are able to help one child, we would have made a difference in the life of one child. And that is a lot better than not making any difference at all,” she adds.

Akap Bata has identified Sikatvill, Muntinlupa as one of its priority communities. Sixty percent of the kids in the local Akap Bata daycare center are malnourished and have parents who work as factory workers in the city.

For its initial phase, Send-a-Child-to-School calls on people to help Sikatvill, Muntinlupa preschool children in four ways: (1) donate items like school supplies, clothes, shoes, bags, storybooks, art materials, and nutritious food items like milk during the school year; (2) volunteer to help in the project; (3) spread the word to your friends and contacts; (4) donate money for the feeding program of the project which entails providing nutritious food to the kids every day. Scheduled drop-off points for donations and other details can be found on isangbata.blogspot.com.

Studies show that early childhood development leads to important outcomes. The Infant Health Development Program (IHDP), for one, showed that children exposed to the program at a longer period had higher intelligence quotient (IQ) vis-à-vis children who had a shorter exposure period to the program. IHDP is a research of Child Trends, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center in Washington, DC, USA that conducts studies on children at all stages of development.

In the Philippine setting, Akap Bata (in its website) states that 64 percent of Filipino children do not experience or attend pre schools, daycare centers and other non-formal preparatory education despite a law requiring all barangays to operate at least one daycare center.

Poor schoolchildren need milk, art materials and storybooks! Deadline is extended to June 30.

Poor schoolchildren need milk, art materials and storybooks! Deadline is extended to June 30.

ISANG BATA will be accepting donations until June 30, 2009. We are specifically asking for children’s storybooks, art materials like clay, art paper, crayons, etc., and milk! About 60% of the kids we’re helping are malnourished. We want to give them a supply of milk for daily consumption in school to help keep them alert, active and generally healthy. Cash and other kinds of donations are most welcome. For drop off and pick up arrangements, please get in touch with Ime Aznar or Dino Narciso through:

Ime – 0916.4120636; imelda.aznar@yahoo.com
Dino – 0905.2548486; bike_ko@yahoo.com

OTHER UPDATES:

Cash donations have reached P8,000 from the following: Jaymie Divinagracia, Mick Enrique, Irene Chia, Beth de Leon, Nikki Diyco, Janet Barbara and Jenny Weineke. We also received school supplies and other items from Karts Guerrero, Jason Jumaquio, Iten del Rosario, Jojie Recto, Jenny Guinto and Maroz de Mesa.

We gave medicines to the mother of a 9 mo. old baby girl named Andrea Tiu. Andrea has wounds all over her body which was diagnosed as mamaso. The doctor from the health center prescribed four kinds of medicines. Tiu’s mother, Benjie, used to be a manicurista, and her father is in jail. They used to have a shanty along the railroad tracks in Muntinlupa, but the community was recently demolished. Since then, the mom hasn’t been able to make money and constantly worries about where the next meal will come from. They currently don’t have a permanent residence and her children, and all the other children from that community, are exposed to the rains and the sun on a daily basis. Benjie wrote a letter to ask for help for her sick daughter. Arlene from Akap Bata showed me the letter and I decided to use some of the money to buy Andrea’s medicines. Andrea has three other school-aged siblings. Isang Bata will make sure to give some school supplies to them also.

I sat down last June 8 with Arlene from Akap Bata to discuss distribution of donations. We decided that since tuition is free and most of the kids just walk to school, we will use the cash donations to support their nutrition. Arlene told me that about 60% of the kids are malnourished. We would like to use the money to address that. The plan is to sponsor their daily snacks and provide nutritious alternatives like fortified muffins, porridge, etc. If we get more cash donations, we can do this for a longer period.

There are other items being worked out like the press release, the next project for the demolished community, corporate solicitations, etc. but it would be premature if I’m going to post details at this point. So that will have to wait until the next update entry.

Please keep the donations coming. We really need all the help we can get. If you would like to join us or send suggestions, please don’t hesitate to do so. Thank you, all.

PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING

ISANG BATA UPDATE
June 3, 2009

Please keep them coming

We are less than two weeks from the deadline and while we have received numerous donations and pledges already, we still need more so we can help more children. So far, 3 people have given cash donations and more have pledged to give before the June 15 deadline. Around 3 people have also given stuff for the 40 preschool kids we're helping this year, and yes, more than 10 people have pledged to give something before the deadline as well! Hopefully, I can publish the donors' names in my next entry. It's really heartwarming and encouraging to see all these individuals who are willing to share what they have so poor children can have an education.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED AND THOSE WHO HAVE PROMISED TO GIVE SOMETHING. MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO ARE SPREADING THE WORD AND THOSE WHO ENCOURAGE AND INSPIRE US THROUGH WORDS AND KIND THOUGHTS.

Big thanks to my partner Dino who's been tireless in collecting and picking up stuff. And to Karts Guerrero who has expressed her intention to join our little group here. Welcome, Karts! Gratitude to Betty, too, for helping me reach more people through her media contacts. We will definitely put up a PR plan for Isang Bata. Finally, thank you Arlene of Akap Bata for providing me with all the information I have requested.

Aside from the school kids in Muntinlupa, we might also be able to help a few students from Payatas in case we have extra items to give away. So really, we need more people to give so we can extend support to more needy children. Dondon Lanuza, an OFW on deathrow in Saudi Arabia, also sent us a message asking for help for his two school-aged children who are living here in the Philippines. We will do our best to allocate something for his little angels. Let me just mention here that Mr. Lanuza has been wrongly convicted and that his actions were made purely in self defense. He sent me numerous (!) documents including news writeups and court papers to prove that he's legit.

The small team of Isang Bata will be sitting down late this week to iron out the distribution details. If you're interested to join the current campaign or any of the future ones, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Here is a listing of the items that we need more of:

school bags
shoes and slippers
socks
towels
water bottles
children's books
toiletries including insect repellent, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, baby powder
grooming stuff like combs, headbands and hair elastics, toothbrushes
food items for baon like juices and biscuits
raincoats and umbrellas
medicines for children's cough and cold

Plus, of course, cash donations are welcome. We will be using the money to ensure that children can come to school and continue their studies even when their parents don't have baon money or cash for school projects and other school needs.

Please send all donations before June 15, 2009. For pickup or drop off arrangements, please coordinate with us through:

Ime 09164120636, imelda.aznar@yahoo.com
Dino 09052548486, bike_ko@yahoo.com
website: isangbata.blogspot.com