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i r . ,  .. ' 
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
7 8E.G ! 0 
. a  
First Regular Session 
) 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article 11, Section 13 provides: 
The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building 
and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, 
and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and 
nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs. 
Worldwide, child pornography is a billion-dollar business and it is a serious 
concern and problem in the Philippines. New technologies such as the Internet and digital 
cameras have made child pornography more pervasive and more difficult for authorities 
to monitor the growing number of both pornographers and their victims. A great number 
of offenders now use and take advantage of the computer technology to organize, 
maintain, distribute, and increase the size of their pornographic collections. When these 
abusive images reach the world of cyberspace, they are irretrievable and can continue to 
circulate forever, re-victimizing the child as the images are viewed again and again. 
The number of Filipino children in the Philippines that have been or are being 
exploited in child pornography are unknown. But the harm it causes to children is known. 
There are lasting and complex negative effects, especially psychological harm, on 
children who have been involved in pornography. 
As a State Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional 
Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, it is the 
obligation of the Philippines to prohibit all forms of child pornography and to penalize its 
perpetrators. The existing laws which prohibit pornography in the Philippines, namely 
Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, and Article 5 of the Special 
Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, as amended, 
are inadequate to address the developments in technology which facilitate the 


commission and distribution of child pornography. More importantly, it does not provide 
a definition o f  child pornography. 
Due to gaps in the existing laws, there is a need to propose a bill which would 
comply with the Philippines’ international human rights obligations and provide for the 
following: define child pornography, address the gaps and limitations of the existing 
laws, and cover the advances in technology in the prohibited acts, among others. 


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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
1 
7 DEC II? Y : ’  ’ 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
) 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
DEFINING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND CHILD ABUSE MATERIALS 
AND PENALIZING ALL FORMS AND MEANS OF COMMISSION 
Be it enacted by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Anti-Child 
Pornography Act of 2007.” 
SECTION 2. Declaration of State Policy and Principles. - It is hereby declared to 
be the policy of the State to provide special protection to children from all forms of 
sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, including the exploitative use of children in 
pornographic performances and materials, as guaranteed under the Convention on the 
Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution 
and child pornography. 
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. -As used in this Act, the term: 
a) “Child” - refers to persons below eighteen (18) years of age or those over but 
are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, 
neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental 
infirmity or condition; 
b) “Child abuse materials” - refer to materials that describe or depict, whether 
real or simulated, a child or a representation of a child as a victim of 
maltreatment in any way that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all 
the circumstances, offensive. Maltreatment of a child includes, but are not 
limited to: 
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(1) Psychological and physical abuse, neglect, cruelty, torture, sexual abuse 
and emotional maltreatment; 
(2) Any act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the 
intrinsic worth of a child as a human being; 
c) “Child pornography” - refers to pornographic material that describes or 
visually depicts: 
(1) a child engaged in sexual conduct; 
(2) a person appearing to be a child engaged in sexual conduct; or 
(3) simulated images representing a child engaged in sexual conduct; 
d) “Depiction” - refers to manner of generating data from which a visual image, 
whether still or moving, can be generated; 
e) “Description” - refers to a manner of generating data from which text or 
sounds can be generated; 
0 “Distribution” - refers to the active dissemination of child pornography and 
child abuse materials. It includes transmitting child pornography and child 
abuse materials through a computer system to another person, whether natural 
or juridical; 
g) “Grooming” - refers to the act of preparing a child for a sexual relationship by 
communicating pornography to a child. It includes online enticement, or 
enticement through any other means; 
h) “Indecent” - means indecent according to the standards of an ordinary 
reasonable person; 
i) “Internet address” - means a wehsite, a bulletin board service, an Internet 
chat-room or news group or any other Internet or shared network protocol 
address; 
j) “Internet content host” - a person who hosts or who proposes to host Internet 
content in the Philippines; 
k) “Internet service provider” - refers to any person who carries on the business 
of providing access to the Internet bay any means; 


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1) “Making available” - refers to placing of child pornography or child abuse 
materials online for the use of others for whatever purpose, such as creating 
sites or creating or compiling hyperlinks to sites to facilitate access to the 
prohibited materials; 
m) “Material” - includes material in any form, or combination of forms, capable 
of constituting a communication. Materials may include but is not limited to 
live performance, film, videos, photographs, publications, literature, audio- 
tapes, or any forms of electronic data; 
n) “Means” - refers to the medium of acquiring or transmitting materials, in 
person, through post or courier, radio, telecommunication or other forms of 
communication, Internet, or ephemeral electronic communication, which 
includes telephone conversations, text messages, chat room sessions, 
streaming audio, streaming video, and other forms of communication; 
0) “Offensive” - refers to (a) the standards of morality, decency and propriety 
generally accepted by a reasonable person; and (b) the literary, artistic, or 
educational merit (if any) of the material; and (c) the general character of the 
material, including whether it is of a medical, legal or scientific in character; 
p) “Offering” - refers to the act of soliciting others to obtain child pornography 
by a person who can actually provide or knows someone who can provide it; 
q) “Possession” - without derogating from its ordinary meaning, includes 
keeping or storing in or on a computer, computer system, or computer data 
storage medium and also having custody, control or supervision on behalf of 
another person; 
r) “Proper authorities” - for purposes of this Act, proper authorities shall include 
the Department of Social Welfare and Development, police or other law 
enforcement agencies, or the National Bureau of Investigation; 
s) “Sexual conduct or pose” - includes depiction or description, whether 
simulated or real, of any of the following or similar acts in a way that 
reasonable persons would regard, as being offensive in all circumstances: 
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(1) a sexual organ or anal region of a child; 
(2) the breasts of a female child; 
(3) sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital or 
oral-anal; 
(4) masturbation; 
(5) bestiality; 
(6) sadistic or masochistic or other forms of abuse in a sexual context; 
(7) sexual contact involving the direct or indirect fondling or touching of the 
intimate parts of a body, including the breasts, with or without any object; 
(8) the penetration of a vagina or anus with any object, other parts of the 
human body; 
(9) child is in the presence of a person who is engaged in, or is implied to be 
engaged in a sexual conduct or pose; 
t) “Visual depiction” - refers to the manner of generating data from which a 
visual image, whether still or moving, can be generated, such as but not 
limited to data stored on computer diskette or on other electronic means of 
storage, which are capable of conversion into a visual image; 
SECTION 4. Pvohibited Acts. - It shall be unlawhl for a person to knowingly 
commit any of the following acts, through any of the means defined under Section 
3(n) of this Act: 
a) possesses; 
b) views; 
c) downloads; 
d) creates, produces, reproduces, publishes, posts or in any way contributes to, or 
assists in the creation or production of; 
e) hires, employs, uses, persuades, induces or coerces a child to perform in the 
creation or production of; 
0 purchases or in any way takes steps to procure, obtain or access; 
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g) sells, offers, advertises, promotes, makes known to others where to find; 
h) makes available or facilitates online child pornography; 
i) exhibits, disseminates, distributes, transmits or broadcasts; 
child pornography or child abuse materials as defined in Section 3 (b, c & n) of this Act. 
SECTION 5. Luring or Grooming. - It shall be unlawful for a person (the sender) 
who through: 
a) online enticement 
(1) uses the Internet to transmit a communication to a person who is, or who 
the sender believes to be, under eighteen (1 8) years of age; 
(2) the communication includes materials that are indecent or obscene; and 
(3) with the intention of making it easier to procure the recipient to engage in, 
or submit to, sexual activity with the him or her or a third party; or 
b) any other means of enticement transmits a communication to another person 
where (l), (2) and (3) are present; 
SECTION 6. Duty and Liability of an Internet Sewice Provider. - An internet 
service provider shall: 
a) prevent access or transmittal of prohibited materials by any person, and shall 
install a blocking system to prevent access to such materials; 
b) report the presence thereof, as well as the particulars of the person 
maintaining or hosting or distributing or in any manner contributing to the 
Internet address, to the proper authorities; and 
c) preserve such evidence for purposes of investigation and prosecution by the 
relevant authorities; 
An Internet service provider shall, upon request by proper authorities, furnish the 
particulars of users who gained or attempted to gain access to an Internet address that 
contains prohibited materials. 
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SECTION 7. Duty and Liability of Internet Content Host. - An Internet content 
host shall - 
a) not host any prohibited materials on its Internet address; 
b) immediately report the presence of prohibited materials, as well as the 
particulars of the person maintaining, hosting, distributing or in any manner 
contributing to such Internet address, to the proper authorities; and 
c) preserve such evidence for purposes of investigation and prosecution by the 
relevant authorities. 
An internet content host shall, upon request by proper authorities, furnish the 
particulars of users who gained or attempted to gain access to an Internet address that 
contains the prohibited materials. 
SECTION 8. Duty to Provide Blocking Systems or Sofmare. - The following 
persons and establishments shall also have the duty to install blocking software to prevent 
transmittal or access to the prohibited materials: 
a) Internet caf6 establishments; 
b) Private and public educational institutions; 
c) Public and private offices. 
SECTION 9. Duty to Report. - Photo developers, IT professionals, Internet 
Service Providers, Internet Content Host, credit card companies and banks have the duty 
to report any suspected child pornography materials or transaction to the proper 
authorities. 
SECTION 10. Facilitating of Unlawful or Prohibited Acts. - It shall be unlawful 
for a person to knowingly facilitate the commission of any of the prohibited or unlawfd 
acts under any of the provisions of this law. 
SECTION 11. Providing Venue for Commission of Prohibited Acts. - It shall he 
unlawful for a person to knowingly provide a venue for the commission of the prohibited 
acts, such as but not limited to dens, private rooms, cubicles in Internet cafks, cinemas, 
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secluded areas in residential houses or in establishments purporting to be a legitimate 
business. 
SECTION 12. Attempt to Commit Any of the Prohibited Acts. - Any attempt to 
commit any of the prohibited acts shall be punished by a penalty two (2) degrees lower 
than that prescribed for the consummated acts. 
SECTION 13. Qualified Circumstances. - The prohibited acts are qualified when 
committed by: 
a) A syndicate, or in large scale. Prohibited acts are deemed committed by a 
syndicate if carried out by a group of three (3) or more persons conspiring or 
confederating with one another. It is deemed committed in large scale if 
committed against three (3) or more persons, individually or as a group; 
b) Ascendants, guardian, a person who has custody of the child, or relatives of 
the child within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity; 
c) Public officer or employee; 
d) A person who knowingly provides a venue for the commission of the 
prohibited acts, such as but not limited to dens, private rooms, cubicles, 
cinemas, secluded areas in residential houses or in establishments purporting 
to be a legitimate business. 
SECTION 14. Prosecution ofcases. - Any person who has personal knowledge 
of the commission of any offense under this Act, the child, parents, legal guardian, or 
siblings, may file a complaint. 
SECTION 15. Venue. - A  criminal action arising from a violation of this Act shall 
be filed where the offense was committed, or where any of its elements occurred, or 
where the child is found or actually resides at the time of the commission of the offense: 
Provided, that the court where the criminal action is first filed shall acquire jurisdiction to 
the exclusion of the other courts. 
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(P50,OOO.OO). 
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Thousand Pesos (PlOO,OOO.OO); 
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d) Any person found guilty of exhibiting, disseminating, distributing, 
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transmitting or broadcasting child pornography and abuse materials shall 
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suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal in its maximum period and a fine of 
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Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P500,OOO.OO); 
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e) Any person found guilty of hiring, employing, using, persuading, inducing, or 
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coercing a child to perform in the creation or reproduction of child 
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pornographic and abuse materials shall suffer the penalty of prision 
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correcional in its maximum period and a fine of Two Hundred Thousand 
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Pesos (P200,OOO.OO); 
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SECTION 16. Penalties and Sanctions. - The following penalties and sanctions 
are hereby established for the offenses enumerated in this Act: 
a) Any person found guilty of possessing, viewing, downloading, creating, 
reproducing, purchasing or in any way taking steps to procure, obtain or 
access for personal use any of the prohibited materials shall suffer the penalty 
of arresto mayor in its maximum period and a fine of Fifty Thousand Pesos 
b) Any person found guilty of possessing, downloading, purchasing, creating, 
producing, reproducing, publishing, posting child pornographic and abuse 
materials with the intent of selling or distributing them or any person found 
guilty of ‘making available’ child pornography shall suffer the penalty of 
prision correctional in its minimum period and a fine of One Hundred 
c) Any person found guilty of selling, offering, advertising, promoting, making 
known to others where to find child pornography and abuse materials shall 
suffer the penalty ofprision correctional in its maximum period and a fine of 
Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (P200,OOO.OO); 
f )  Any person guilty of luring or grooming a child as provided in Section 5 of 
this Act shall suffer the penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period and a 
fine of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,OOO.OO); 
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g) The owner, head, president, partner, managers or responsible officer of any 
Internet Service Provider or Internet content host who participated in the 
commission of the offense or who shall knowingly permit or fail to prevent its 
commission shall suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal in its minimum 
period and a fine of Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (F'500,OOO.OO); 
h) Any person found guilty of qualified acts, where applicable, shall be punished 
with a penalty one (1) degree higher than that prescribed for the offense; 
i) If the offender is a foreigner, he or she shall be immediately deported after 
serving his or her sentence and be barred permanently from entering the 
country; 
j) Any person guilty of facilitating the commission of any prohibited acts shall 
be punished with a penalty one (1) degree lower than that prescribed for the 
offense; 
k) Any attempt to commit any of the prohibited acts shall be punished with a 
penalty two (2) degrees lower than that prescribed for the consummated acts; 
1) Any business establishment used in the commission of the prohibited acts 
provided shall be immediately closed, the authority or license to operate 
cancelled, without prejudice to the forfeiture of the proceeds and investments, 
without prejudice to the prosecution of the owner, head, president, partner, 
managers or responsible officer who participated in the commission of the 
offense or who shall knowingly permit or fail to prevent its commission; 
SECTION 17. Confiscation and Forfeiture of the Proceeds and Instruments 
Derived from Acts Prohibited Under this Law. - In addition to the penalty imposed for 
the violation of this Act, the court shall order the confiscation and forfeiture, in favor of 
the government, of all the proceeds and properties derived from the commission of the 
crime, unless they are the property of a third person not liable for the commission of the 
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prohibited acts. 
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SECTION 18. Trust Fund. - All fines imposed under this Act and the proceeds 
and properties forfeited and confiscated shall accrue to a Trust Fund to be administered 
and managed by the Inter-Agency Council against Child Pornography to be used 
exclusively for programs that will prevent acts prohibited under this law and to protect, 
heal and reintegrate the child into the mainstream of society. Such programs shall 
include, but not limited to, the following: 
a) Provision for mandatory services including counseling, free legal services, 
medical or psychological services, livelihood and skills training; and 
educational assistance to the child; 
b) Sponsorship of a national research program on child pornography and other 
acts covered by the law and the establishment of a data collection system for 
monitoring and evaluation purposes; 
c) Provision of necessary technical and material support services to appropriate 
government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs); 
d) Sponsorship of conferences and seminars to provide venue for consensus 
building amongst the public, the academe, government, NGOs and 
international organizations; and 
e) Promotion-of information and education campaign. 
SECTION 19. Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography. - There is 
hereby established an Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography, to be composed 
of the Secretary of the Department of Justice as Chairperson and the following as 
members: 
a) Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment; 
b) Director-General, Philippine National Police; 
c) Director, National Bureau of Investigation; 
d) Executive Director, Council for the Welfare of Children; 
e) Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Development; 
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f) Three (3) representatives from children’s NGOs. These representatives shall 
be nominated by the government agency representatives of the Council, for 
appointment by the President for a term of three (3) years. 
The members of the Council may designate their permanent representatives 
who shall have a rank not lower than an assistant secretary or its equivalent to 
meetings, and shall receive emoluments as may be determined by the Council 
in accordance with existing budget and accounting, rules and regulations. 
SECTION 20. Functions of the Council. - The Council shall have the following 
powers and functions: 
a) Formulate a comprehensive and integrated program to prevent and suppress 
child pornography; 
b) Promulgate rules and regulations as may be necessary for the effective 
implementation of this Act; 
c) Monitor and oversee the strict implementation of this Act; 
d) Coordinate the programs and projects of.the various member agencies to 
effectively address the issues and problems related to child pornography; 
e) Coordinate the conduct of massive information dissemination and campaign 
on the existence of the law and the various issues and problems related to 
child pornography through the LGUs, concerned agencies, and NGOs; 
fJ Secure from any department, bureau, office, agency , or instrumentality of the 
government or from NGOs and other civic organizations such assistance as 
may be needed to effectively implement this Act; 
g) Develop the mechanism to ensure the timely, coordinated, and effective 
response to cases of child pornography; 
h) Recommend measures to enhance cooperative efforts and mutual assistance 
among foreign countries through bilateral andor multilateral arrangements to 
prevent and suppress international child pornography; 
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i) Exercise all the powers and perform such other functions necessary to attain 
the purposes and objectives of this Act. 
SECTION 21. Secretariat of the Council. - The Department of Justice shall 
establish the necessary Secretariat for the Council. 
SECTION 22. Reporting Requirements. -The 
Council shall submit to the 
President of the Philippines and to Congress and annual report of the policies, programs 
and activities relative to the implementation of this Act. 
SECTION 23. Funding. - The heads of the departments and agencies concerned 
shall immediately include in their programs and issue such rules and regulations to 
implement the provisions of this Act, the funding of which shall be included in the 
General Appropriations Act. 
SECTION 24. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Council shall 
promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations within six (6) months form 
the effectivity of this Act. 
SECTION 25. Suppletory Effect of Other Special Laws. - The provisions of 
Republic Act No. 7610 and other special laws shall have a suppletory effect unless 
otherwise inconsistent with this Act. Provided that, no provision of this Act or any other 
law shall be interpreted contrary to the best interests of the child. 
SECTION 26. Repealing Clause. - Section 9 ofRepublic Act No. 7610, all laws, 
acts, presidential decrees, executive orders, administrative orders, rules and regulations 
inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Act are deemed amended, modified 
or repealed accordingly. 
SECTION 21. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act or the provision not otherwise affected shall 
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remain valid and subsisting. 
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Approved, 
SECTION 28. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
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