Lawmaker wants tougher penalties for purveyors of cybersex

By Erwin Lemuel Oliva, INQ7.net

A CONGRESSMAN has recently sought tougher penalties for operators of cybersex dens in the Philippines.

Alarmed by what he describes as "the growing epidemic of online sex addiction," Representative Joseph Santiago of Catanduanes has filed a bill suggesting a 15-year prison term and one million-peso fine for operators of cybersex dens.

His bill also sought stiffer punishment against "employees" of cybersex operators. They, too, will face 12 years in prison and a fine of up to 500,000 pesos.

"We are gravely worried that going forward, as the country's Internet users increase, illicit cybersex activities will also proliferate," said Santiago, a former commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission, in a statement.

"Cybersex operators corrupt and prostitute our women and children. They should be dealt with severely. They deserve no leniency," the lawmaker added.

By cybersex, Santiago was referring to sexual acts performed by men and women, and even some children, before a web camera that stream the images directly to the computers of paying Internet users here and abroad.

Cybersex can also refer to individuals conversing in an online chat room for the purposes of sexual arousal.

Cybersex fiends lure mostly women and young girls, including those from the provinces, into performing the sexual acts for a fee, he said.

Santiago said that research shows that some 15 percent of Internet users have visited online sex chat rooms and pornographic sites.

He also cited a separate study showing that nearly nine percent of users of the Internet for sex spend more than 11 hours a week surfing for erotic content.

The number of Internet users in the Philippines will hit 20 million by 2007, according to the technology research outfit International Data Corp.

A separate study by ACNielsen said that some four million Filipinos now spend more than two hours daily surfing the Internet, double the two million in 2002.