Apart from corruption ruining flood control, another issue has attracted public attention in the past weeks. Filipino-American actress Liza Soberano drew praise for narrating the abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of parental figures.
Soberano has provided harrowing details of her abuse in her childhood, as her Filipino father was deported and her American mother was arrested together with a boyfriend. Soberano and her brother ended up in foster homes.
While the abuses occurred in the United States, Soberano’s story has highlighted a problem that child welfare advocates have said has been worsening in the Philippines.
The actress herself has compiled and presented data about the problem, correctly pointing out that the Philippines has become one of the world’s biggest sources of materials involving the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Citing data, she noted that two out of 10 Filipino children aged 12 to 17 who use the internet are OSAEC victims.
Child welfare advocates have pointed out that victims’ parents themselves as well as guardians are often the perpetrators of OSAEC.
Apart from OSAEC, Filipino children aged five to 17 are working, often in hazardous conditions. As of 2022, Soberano noted, there were an estimated 1.48 million children engaged in such work, with another 100,000 exploited in prostitution.
Child welfare workers have pointed out the difficulty of getting children to talk about their suffering, or even recognizing that they are being subjected to abuse and exploitation by their parents or guardians.
The problem reportedly spiked during the two-year COVID lockdown, when children were stuck at home with their parents and guardians, many of whom had lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic restrictions.
Soberano’s story should give more urgency to the implementation of measures to deal with the abuse of children. The government has emphasized the need for a holistic approach to the problem, involving parents, schools, the community, religious and civic groups as well as government agencies including law enforcement.
The capacity to detect victims and provide assistance and protection needs a major boost. Rules, laws and facilities for foster care of abused children also need enhancement.
The hardest victims to help are those who are too scared to seek help, especially those who are too young to realize that they need rescuing from abuse.