‘200,000 Pinoys now offering cyber sex’

More than 200,000 Filipinos — women, men and possibly children — are offering sex via the Internet, Catanduanes Rep. Joseph Santiago revealed yesterday.

He said the website www.adultfriendfinder.com claims to have a list of 212,257 potential online sexual partners from the Philippines.

The website informs prospective customers that it is "the world’s largest sex and swinger personals site, where real people meet online for casual sex."

It claims to have a list of over 19.6 million active members worldwide, 48,000 of whom are online at any given time, Santiago said.

He said based on the www.adultfriendfinder.com site, "the Philippines now has the world’s 15th largest list of possible sexual partners on the Internet."

"We find this surprising considering that outside the office, very few Filipinos have ready access to personal computers with an Internet connection," he said.

"This only suggests that a number of Internet shops may be fronting for cyber sex operations and there are many gangs here running clandestine cyber sex dens," he added.

Among 35 countries in Asia, the Philippines has the second largest list of potential sex partners in www.adultfriendfinder.com, next only to India, which has 677,812.

Outside Asia, the countries with larger lists than the Philippines are the United States with 14.2 million; the United Kingdom, 1.9 million; Canada, 1.2 million; Brazil, 830,615; Germany, 762,055; Mexico, 671,761; Australia, 642,949; France, 556,301; Spain, 520,324; Italy, 471,188; Argentina, 357,212; and Peru, 317,726.

Other Asian countries listed in the website with more than 100,000 potential sex partners are Malaysia, 177,996; Singapore, 126,248; Japan, 112,053; and China, 106,163.

Santiago is pushing for the swift approval of new legislation that would impose tougher penalties on cyber sex operators.

"We are gravely worried that going forward, as the country’s Internet users increase, illicit cyber sex activities will also proliferate. Cyber sex operators corrupt and prostitute our women and children. They should be dealt with severely," he said.

He noted that in recent months, the authorities have busted cyber sex operations, including those run by foreigners.

Last month, the Abra provincial prosecutor recommended the filing of criminal charges against an Australian man and his Filipino wife for allegedly forcing children to work in a cyber sex shop in Bangued town.

In May, two Dutch nationals suspected of operating an Internet sex den were killed in a shootout with policemen who were serving them arrest warrants in Quezon City.

In the house where the encounter took place, police found five women who said they were paid P50,000 each a month to undress and perform sex acts in front of computer cameras for clients mostly in the US.

Also in May, authorities apprehended an American and a Canadian in Angeles City for allegedly maintaining a cyber sex shop. Evidence gathered at the shop linked the two to the website www.chathostess.com. — Jess Diaz