The recent report by the Department of Information and Communications Technology revealed that the Philippines ranks second globally in online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, Senator Win Gatchalian finds this record "alarming" for the country.

Hence, Gatchalian urged the government to intensify its efforts to combat these "heinous crimes" affecting Filipino children.

"We should really try very hard to get us out of that rank of being number two in the world on OSAEC, and even get us out of that list," he said during a briefing on the proposed budget of the DICT and its attached agencies.

Gatchalian also lamented it would be a distressing position for the Philippines to be identified as one of the hotspots in the world for children to become unsafe.

In addition to poverty, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy attributed the continuing prevalence of OSAEC in the country is the government's "lack of necessary tools" to identify and track down perpetrators.

Thus, Gatchalian emphasized the importance of cultivating bilateral relationships with other countries to combat OSAEC effectively.

He recalled an incident in which a tip from another country led to the discovery of an OSAEC incident in Metro Manila.

"Aside from the hardware and tools that we need, there are things we can enact quickly to improve communication and coordination to share information as quickly as possible," he said.

DICT Assistant Secretary Mary Rose Magsaysay said there are 100 bilateral partnerships with its counterpart agencies to fight the illegal trafficking of children.

She also pointed out that the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center is working with the University of the Philippines to translate materials that would raise awareness, especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, regarding the OASEC issues.

Magsaysay added that the DICT is also working with telecommunication companies to block child sexual abuse and exploitation materials on online platforms.

The Scale of Harm Survey by the International Justice Mission and the University of Nottingham Rights Lab estimates that 471,416 Filipino children were trafficked to produce new child sexual exploitation material in 2022.

Gatchalian earlier co-authored two laws that strengthen the government's capacity to crack down on OSAEC, namely; the Anti-OSAEC and Anti-CSAEM Act or Republic Act 11930; and the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2022 or the Republic Act 11862.