GMANews.TV

Church-based group marks Sept 28 as antichild porn day
09/07/2007 10:17 PM
To drum up awareness against child pornography, a Church-based group has declared Sept. 28 as a National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography.

The Anti-Child Pornography Alliance (ACPA) will launch a “Batingaw (bells)" campaign against child pornography in Metro Manila and the provinces.“Simultaneous actions and activities will be staged in Baguio, Cagayan Valley, Isabela, Metro Cebu, Aklan will be held during that day to call for the total eradication of child pornography," it said in a statement posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website (www.cbcpnews.com) Friday night.Caloocan bishop Deogracias Iñiguez Jr., head of the CBCP’s information unit, called for a heightened state of vigilance against “an evil plague that is ravaging society."

“We must help in the campaign to educate youth and prevent violence against children as well as child pornography," Iñiguez told students during the launching of the “Batingaw" campaign against child pornography.Leading the crusade are concerned youth and student leaders, campus journalists from various schools and communities and faith-based organizations.Aside from ACPA, the movement’s backers include the along with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the De La Salle College of St. Benilde.

“Today, as the howling of the victimized children of pornography and various forms of abuses in the country and even on neighboring nations mount, we will not be heedless and neglectful," said Lean Peace Flores from the ACPA-Children and Youth Secretariat.“Like with the striking and sound of the ‘batingaws,’ we will act on these realities and will even pave the way for the immediate resolution of the crisis," she said added.Flores said the concept of “Batingaw" was derived from old times, where bells were used to send messages both of good tidings and forthcoming dangers that moved people to action.ACPA underscored that the children and youth participation in the battle against pornography is a vital component for their advocacy to work effectively.

It stated that youth involvement in pressing their concerns today foresees the imminent passing of a bill by the country’s legislators to set “strong and definite" policies on child-pornography and related concerns.“We urge our lawmakers and the executive branch of our government to prioritize the drafting and passing of a law that will prosecute the masterminds and practitioners of child pornography," said Flores. -