It was found that the spike in suicide rates among youth about two years ago stemmed from cyberbullying, a baiting tactic wielded by online child traffickers.
“There was a year na maraming nagsu-suicide. and we found out, it's more of cyberbullying. and yung cyberbullying, ito yung mga ginagawa ng mga ito,” Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Rommel Fransisco Marbil told reporters at a media conference in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on September 12.
Authorities had recently gotten their hands on “large-scale” cyber child trafficker Teddy Jay Mojeca Mejia, with the help of the United Arab Emirates’ law enforcement and was presenting him before the media.
The suspect would ask for children’s pictures then deepfake their faces onto naked bodies and threaten to release the doctored photo online should they refuse to cooperate.
“Kaya ‘to lumalaki. Pagkatapos nito, ‘yung mga bata, hindi nila (kinakaya) (That is why this grows into a larger issue. After this, the children can’t bear it),” Marbil stated.
“Bakit Pilipinas? Number one, marunong po tayong mag-Ingles. Second, maraming mahirap sa country natin. And third, readily available ‘yung wi-fi natin. Ang dali,” the police chief enumerated the reasons predators target Filipino children.
He was adamant that offenders like Mejia not only ruin lives; their operations lead to the untimely end of their victims’ lives.
Department of Interior and Local Government Sec. Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. vowed that Mejia would be locked away for life and warned that law enforcement will rid the country of criminals like him.
