Angelo Reyes (not his real name) is a former schoolteacher who now works as an IT agent for a non-governmental organization dedicated to fighting online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

In an interview with Maritime Fairtrade, he said his job has him spending hundreds of hours monitoring digital spaces where exploitation happens — private messaging platforms, suspicious websites, live streaming apps, and encrypted forums.

Using specialized software and an in-depth understanding of online behavior, Angelo tracks suspicious accounts, identifies online patterns, and gathers digital evidence like email, videos, text, and photos that point to perpetrators.  

“To put it simply, we trace digital footprints and build cases that we hope will lead to rescues and arrests,” he said.

With leads from the United States Department of Homeland Security, and in coordination with the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Angelo and other members of his team go undercover, posing as either buyers or traffickers, infiltrating the darkest corners of the internet or going to nightclubs identified as hotspots to surveil perpetrators and rescue child victims. 

“It’s not easy pretending to be someone you’re not, especially when what you’re seeing on the other end of the chat is so vile, so heartbreaking; but because we know that what we do gets us closer to saving children, so it is all worth it,” he said.

There was one time when he had to pose as a client looking for teenaged women.

“I had to go to this expensive bar in an entertainment district in Pampanga. I dressed the part, like a man with disposable income but just bored, you know? After a few drinks, one of the staff gave me a note with a cellphone number on it. He said I should call and get the “service” I needed. He said I could choose the ages of the girls I wanted to have,” he said.  “It was a disgusting piece of business.”

Angelo has been on the job for two years and has assisted in dozens of successful entrapment and rescue operations. Many of the cases, he said, are deeply disturbing, often involving parents in impoverished communities in different parts of the country who sell their own children for livestreamed sexual abuse.

“In some cases, it’s the parents who perform the abuse themselves on camera, while clients from abroad, mostly from the U.S. and some parts of Europe, watch and pay,” he said.

The trauma suffered by the children cannot be underestimated. Many of the victims are too young to understand the abuse; some are infants, toddlers. 

“They don’t even have the language yet to describe what’s happening to them,” Angelo said.

Still increasing in number

Online sexual exploitation and human trafficking remain critical issues in the Philippines, with recent data highlighting the severity and pervasiveness of these crimes.

During the recent senate hearing, a study alleging that nearly half a million Filipino children, or one in every 100, fell victim to online sexual abuse and exploitation in 2022 alone was presented. It was also disclosed that artificial intelligence through bots or an online app can be used to “undress” photos of victims.

The Child Rights Network said that different factors, such as widespread poverty, cheap internet and smartphones, Filipinos’ ability to speak English fluently, prevalent customs that support secrecy or prolonged abuse, have made the country a global hotspot for online sexual exploitation of children.

The scarcity of economic resources as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Child Rights Network pointed out, also made online sexual abuse or exploitation of children (OSAEC) a source of revenue for some families.

The Department of Justice’s most recent data obtained from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children revealed a significant increase in OSAEC cases, which reached 484,572 in September 2021, compared to 167,647 in the same period in 2020. The OSAEC cases rose by 239.94 percent on average from 2020 to 2021.

The numbers are still considerable despite the country having a Tier 1 ranking in the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report, the U.S. State Department’s annual status update on the state of global anti-trafficking efforts. Tier 1 indicates that the government is fully compliant with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards to eliminate human trafficking.

On April 3, the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros held a hearing on the spike in the number of cases of OSAEC and the proliferation of OSAEC criminal networks that use chat platforms and electronic wallets.

Hontiveros said reports submitted to her office point towards an increasing number of cases of OSAEC despite existing and strengthened policies, particularly the Expanded Anti-Trafficking Act of 2022 which she authored.  These include social media content and online transactions that promote child sexual abuse or exploitation materials (CSAEM).

“We have to determine if tech companies have a role in all of this. If this is the case, we need to push for greater accountability from tech companies in fighting online child exploitation,” she said.

Hontiveros pointed out that abuse and exploitation of children had increased over the years due to the advancement in technology. 

“With the internet and the widespread accessibility of various apps, transactions have become easier than ever,” she said.

The crucial role of internet intermediaries, such as internet service providers, web hosting providers, internet search engine and portals, internet payment system providers, instant messaging technologies, and social media platforms, to stop child exploitation and abuse are recognized in anti-OSAEC laws.

“We have to understand the new ways traffickers produce and distribute these materials. It’s also urgent that we assess the performance of internet intermediaries in their legal obligations and the adequacy of the response of government agencies to eradicate these crimes, she said.

While the Philippines ranks highly on paper, it simultaneously remains one of the world’s hotspots for OSAEC and human trafficking. This paradox calls into question the efficacy of current measures and highlights the alarming realities faced by many young Filipinos lured into a cycle of exploitation.

For Philippine agencies, the Tier 1 recognition has led to higher funding, international support, and a boost in public awareness initiatives. 

However, sexual exploitation and trafficking still persist, particularly in the realm of online exploitation and the rampant prevalence of trafficking in entertainment venues.

In November last year, a French graphic artist, Bouhalem Bouchiba, 59, was sentenced to 25 years in jail for paying for the online abuse of hundreds of preteen girls in the Philippines from his home in France.

Evidence submitted to the court showed Bouchiba, between 2012 and 2021, paid two women in the Philippines to rape and sexually assault girls as young as five to 10 years old. The acts were recorded and shared on various online platforms.

On March 31, a certified public accountant, lawyer and realtor, Michael P Molina, was arrested in Zamboanga City in a joint operation by the Department of Justice – Office of Cybercrime, the National Bureau of Investigation – Human Trafficking Division, and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, with the help of Exodus Philippines, a non-government organization.

Three minors were rescued from Molina’s home along with six additional young adult victims. All are believed to have been subjected to sexual abuse.

The arresting team found items, which upon initial examination, pointed that Molina’s child exploitation acts might have begun in 2012. In the meantime, in-depth forensic examination of his devices such as phones and computers, and the data recovered, suggested that his collection and production of child abuse materials may have started as early as 2002.

The NBI agents, accompanied by social workers, were able to track and interview two victims who said the suspect asked them to do shows, and to perform various sexual and lascivious acts with him.

The suspect also recorded the acts on his cellphone and forced his victims to watch the replays in his room.

The day the suspect was arrested, he was caught in his bedroom with two boys, aged 15 and 12. Several external hard drives, various CSAEM, and folders with the names of boys were also found in the room. 

Also in March, 108 women were rescued from a high-end club in Makati City, one of the Philippines’ busiest financial districts.  The club, known to be frequented by wealthy patrons and foreigners, had been under surveillance by the NBI for over a year after agents received tips that young women, including minors, were often seen there. The operation resulted in the arrest of four suspects.

Saving children is the motivation

Before joining the rescue team, Angelo was a teacher. But after he and his partner lost their premature baby, he said that something changed in him. 

“We never got the chance to protect our child,” he said softly. “But maybe I can help protect other children who still have a chance.”

Angelo’s work demands intense focus, emotional stamina, and a deep understanding of both technology and human psychology. He said the work he does also forces him to deal with difficult emotions, especially when it comes to the perpetrators.

“There are days when I feel rage,” he admits. “What kind of parent does this to their child? But there are also moments when I feel pity. Poverty can push people to extremes. I’ve seen that with my own eyes. But using your own child to make money, and damaging them, maybe forever, is unforgivable.”

Angelo explained that it is important to understand how the underground networks operate within the country.

“Some of the victims we rescued said they were contacted by predators over tech platforms; some were groomed and trafficked online; some had their child sexual abuse experiences posted online,” he said.

Angelo said many young Filipinos, especially girls, are easy prey.

“Girls as young as 15 are lured to work first as ‘guest relations officers’ in nightclubs. They are made to dress in clothes that make them appear much, much older than they are. Their handlers give them makeovers and teach them how to walk and carry themselves. 

“The girls are paid as much as P10,000 (US$175) for a few hours’ work. The girls do this work on the weekends, or sometimes even during the weekday when they have school. Because they earn money, their parents do not mind.” 

Many of the girls, he explained, come from impoverished backgrounds and they are desperate to help their families financially.  They juggle work in nightclubs around their school schedule, believing all the while that they are merely holding part-time jobs. 

Their innocence is exploited when club managers or recruiters offer them more lucrative deals under the pretense of “upgrading” their roles. With promises of higher pay, they are coaxed to cross a line that not only violates their physical autonomy but also further entraps them in a cycle of abuse.

“Their managers or recruiters tell them that they can make more money if they work more days and let customers kiss or touch them. In the beginning, the girls are hesitant, but being told that they can earn as much as P20,000 or more a month tend to change their minds,” Angelo said.

In some cases, this leads to full-blown prostitution.

Angelo said because most of the young victims of trafficking come from impoverished backgrounds, there is “a kind of twisted acceptance” among Filipinos about trafficking and sexual exploitation.

“We’ve heard social workers talking to the parents of rescued teenagers. The parents often end up justifying the actions of their children or what they allowed their children to do.  The earnings their children give them incentivize them to ignore or dismiss the serious implications of their children’s ‘employment’.  Some even say that everything was a sacrifice for a better future.”

In February, three minors and siblings, aged six, 10, and 11, were rescued from their parents in Pampanga. The children’s mother was caught filming them and selling their videos online inside a makeshift study inside their shanty house.

In Iligan, a 31-year-old mother was arrested for allegedly offering to livestream the sexual abuse of her seven-year-old daughter in exchange for money.  The operatives rescued the young girl and also removed six children at risk, aged one to 11 years old, from the woman’s home following an entrapment operation.

Fight against human trafficking

The battle against human trafficking in the Philippines remains an uphill struggle. Empowering enforcement agencies with better tools, resources, and training is crucial.  On the ground, social programs to educate families about the dangers of trafficking and the implications of their children’s choices need to be widely implemented.

Despite the emotional toll, Angelo said there is no questioning his commitment to his work. 

“All of us in the team feel the same way, children should not be victims, they deserve to be safe and protected. They deserve to live free of fear and pain. If we can help even one child escape the nightmare of their abuse at the hands of traffickers and their own abusive parents, then everything we do is worth it.”

Photo credit: International Justice Mission. A recent successful operation against sexual abuse and exploitation of children in March in Iligan City.