Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Undersecretary for International Affairs, Attached and Supervised Agencies Atty. Emmeline Aglipay Villar emphasizes a point at the United Nations ‘Drugs and Crime Joint Policy Dialogue on Industry Regulation and Enforcement in Managing Cybercrime’ where she served as a panelist on May 28 to 29 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

During Session 2 (Safety by Design Policies to avoid illegal content in cyber spaces) of the policy dialogue co-hosted by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Undersecretary Villar focused on the DSWD’s efforts in combatting the prevalence of Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OSAEC) and Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Materials (CSAEM).

Undersecretary Villar explained that ensuring compliance to the safety-by-design policy by the digital platform developers plays a vital role in the protection of the rights of vulnerable sectors, especially children, vis-a-vis the implementation of social protection programs and services.

The DSWD official also discussed the country’s notable legislative measures through Republic Act No. 11930 or the Anti OSAEC and Anti CSAEM Act which assigns responsibility to every sector – from law enforcement to social welfare agency and to the private sector. This law also established the National Coordinating Center against OSAEC – CSAEM under the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) in which the DSWD is the co-chairperson along with the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Attending also as part of the Philippine delegation are representatives from the DOJ, Philippine
National Police – Anti Cybercrime Group (PNP – ACG) and Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC).#