NBI arrests suspect in Quezon City child exploitation case, rescues 5 minors

An individual was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), through its Human Trafficking Division (HTRAD), in Quezon City on 18 September 2025, for child sexual exploitation.

The operation stemmed from a case referral from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) through the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC).

The referral stated that members of the New Westminster Police Department (NWPD) executed a search warrant at the residence of a Canadian national. During the service of the warrant, investigators reviewed the Canadian national's device and found communications with a Skype username.

Forensic results forwarded to NBI-HTRAD revealed that the suspect was receiving payments from the arrested Canadian national to facilitate the live online sexual abuse of a 12-year-old relative.

HTRAD agents conducted multiple surveillance operations to verify the suspect’s activities and the involvement of minor victims. The operations confirmed that the suspect was actively offering minor children to foreigners in exchange for money.

Through coordinated efforts, HTRAD agents successfully located the suspect and documented her activities. Following information that she was offering minor victims for in-person sexual exploitation, NBI-HTRAD launched an entrapment and rescue operation on September 18, 2025.

The operation was conducted in coordination with local police, the Quezon City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWD), and with the assistance of the NBI Evidential Multimedia Division (EMD), DOJ IACAT, NCC-OSAEC-CSAEM, Cybertip Monitoring Center, and an NGO partner.

The suspect had a direct dialogue with a poseur-customer, explicitly offering access to minor victims. After the poseur-customer accepted the offer, a meet-up was scheduled to facilitate the entrapment and immediate rescue of the children. The operation was successfully executed, resulting in the arrest of the suspect and the rescue of five minor victims.

Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) and Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Material (CSAEM) were seized and documented for evidentiary purposes.

The suspect was presented for inquest proceedings for Qualified Trafficking in Persons, in violation of R.A. No. 9208, as amended by R.A. No. 10364. Documents are being prepared for the application of a Warrant to Examine Computer Data for the seized devices.

NBI Director Judge Jaime B. Santiago emphasized the Bureau’s unwavering commitment to pursuing perpetrators of child online sexual exploitation and urged the public to report any suspicious online activities related to the crime, saying every report could save children from such illicit activities.