The Philippines remains the “source and destination” of child abuse, especially sale and sexual exploitation, a United Nations Rapporteur said on Thursday.

In a press briefing at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila, UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children Mama Fatima Singhateh presented the preliminary findings of her assessment of the country’s efforts to combat child abuse and exploitation.

She noted that the country lacks information on “the scale of incidences of child trafficking and how victims are exploited.”

Singhateh recommended a “centralized” and “accurate” database containing the incidences, number of cases reported, and convicted cases of sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

“It is essential to systematically collect reliable, centralized, and disaggregated data by age, gender, ethnicity, and disability including the number of prosecutions and convictions related to child sexual abuse cases,” she said.

The UN Special Rapporteur also raised the lack of trained barangay officials who will receive and process the initial reports of child exploitation within their respective areas.

“I am concerned that local governance and politics negatively impact the child protection structure at the local level due to the regular changes of personnel and officials who may have received training on child protection but the turnover rates do not retain their expertise,” she added.

Moreover, Singhateh broached that there is a lack of prosecutors who are trained in handling child sexual abuse cases.

“This results in prosecutors handling and treating child abuse cases as any other regular criminal case,” she noted.

Singhateh then recommended the establishment of a special child protection unit within the prosecutors' department along with the creation of child-specific courts.

The UN Special Rapporteur acknowledged the country’s progress in combating abuses against children, especially the enactment of laws that protect children’s rights.

“The Philippines has made most noteworthy efforts to improve the policy, legal, and institutional framework in view of protecting children against the many forms of sexual abuse and exploitation and sale of children,” she said.

However, she asserted that a lot of work still needed to be done to prevent more abuse.

Meanwhile, in an ambush interview with reporters, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin ‘Boying’ Remulla also disclosed that the country is leading in child sexual exploitation.

“We’re number one in the world. Dapat mawala na ito, ayun ang effort talaga ng gobyerno ni Pangulong Marcos. Itigil na itong status ng Pilipinas na nangunguna tayo sa child sexual exploitation,” he said.

Remulla earlier met with Singhateh who paid a courtesy call at the DOJ.

Last Nov. 27, Singhateh arrived in the country to examine its interventions against child abuse and exploitation.

Aside from Singhateh, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan is scheduled to visit in 2023.