MANILA, Philippines – PLDT Inc. (PLDT) and its wireless branch, Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), are partnering with the anti-trafficking organization International Justice Mission (IJM) Philippines. This collaboration aims to bolster the Philippine government’s initiatives and enhance its cooperation with the international community in light of the increasing incidents of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) in the country.

During a recent public hearing held by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, it was highlighted that OSAEC accounted for a significant portion of the 17,600 reported cases of child rights violations in 2023, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Women and Children Protection Center. Senate Resolution No. 1307, introduced by Senator Risa Hontiveros, referenced IJM’s “Scale of Harm Prevalence” study, which revealed that nearly 500,000 Filipino children were trafficked online through live streaming in 2022, with foreign offenders collaborating with local perpetrators for financial gain.

PLDT, Smart, and IJM have been collaborating with law enforcement, child protection advocates, and philanthropists from various countries to address the urgent issue of OSAEC in the Philippines and to promote cooperation in safeguarding Filipino children online.

In September 2024, PLDT and Smart assisted IJM in organizing a national summit that featured President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., representatives from the Department of Justice Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, the Department of Interior and Local Government, PNP units, and leaders from various organizations, all focused on elevating child protection on the national agenda.

During the summit, President Marcos, Jr. directed all national government agencies and local government units to ramp up efforts to address OSAEC and integrate child safety in all initiatives and regulations.

PLDT and Smart have also been actively working with IJM to hold a series of dialogues with the latter’s constituents from the United States of America, Hong Kong, and South Korea. These dialogues aim to promote awareness of industry solutions and encourage continuous international community support for local efforts to combat OSAEC.   



“While rapidly evolving technologies such as AI bring new capabilities beneficial to everyday life, these are also being used to enable OSAEC, making such crimes against children even more difficult to address. Recognizing this, we at PLDT and Smart continue to update our multi-pronged approach to combat OSAEC. This includes complementing our child protection platform with key partnerships with IJM to strengthen our response and support to the Philippine government’s whole-of-society approach against OSAEC,” said PLDT and Smart Chief Sustainability Officer Melissa Vergel de Dios.

IJM Philippines National Director Samson Inocencio Jr. said in response, “The Philippines is setting a global precedent in building a strong, multi-sectoral response to the scourge of online sexual exploitation of children. Tackling this complex crime requires strategic partnerships across both public and private sectors. PLDT and Smart’s commendable collaboration with the Philippine government and child protection advocates is helping pave the way for a safer world for children. IJM remains committed to working with PLDT and Smart to continually refine and strengthen solutions that protect online and offline children.”

Parallel to their engagements with IJM, PLDT and Smart continue cooperating with the National Telecommunications Commission, law enforcement units, and various courts to investigate and prosecute OSAEC cases. In 2024, the telcos received and fulfilled forty-six (46) lawful requests from these authorized agencies for information involving OSAEC cases.

PLDT and Smart also blocked over 1.7 million URLs and online content linked to OSAEC, from June 2021 until the end of February 2025.

These efforts are part of PLDT and Smart’s continuing implementation of their respective human rights and child safeguarding policies and compliance with Republic Act 11930 or the Anti-OSAEC and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Materials Law.