MANILA – Justice Secretary Vitalinao Aguirre II lauded on Friday the successful joint operation that led to the rescue of five minors used in child pornography, and the arrest of a distributor of pornographic materials and videos in Barangay Anilao, Malolos City, Bulacan.
Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Human Trafficking Division (NBI-AHTRAD), Philippine National Police Women and Child Protection Center (PNP-WCPC), National Criminal Investigation Service – Norway (NCIS), Homeland Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the International Justice Mission (IJM) conducted a joint operation in Malolos City on March 8 by virtue of a search warrant issued by the Manila RTC Branch 24.
NBI Deputy Director for Investigation Vicente A. De Guzman III identified the suspect as Anselmo Ico Jr., who was actively involved in producing, manufacturing, offering, selling, advertising, promoting, communicating and distributing explicit sexual activities of children or child pornography and offering a minor for sexual exploitation.
The operation stemmed from a letter sent by the NCIS-Norway Police on Jan. 3, 2018, stating that they have arrested Ketil Andersen, a Norwegian citizen engaged in purchasing child pornography materials and/or live-stream sexual webcam shows of minors created in the Philippines.
NCIS Officers took over Andersen’s Skype accounts and used them to communicate with his contacts and found that the subject has been using different names in Skype to communicate with his clients.
Ico has been charged with violations of Republic Acts 9208, as amended by RA 10364 (Expanded Anti-Human Trafficking of Persons Act of 2012), 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012), 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act), and 9775 (Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009).
Aguirre, who chairs the IACAT, thanked the NBI, the PNP and the other members of the team “whose combined efforts led to the rescue of the innocent victims and the arrest of Ico for him to face the charges against him”.
“May this serve as a warning for other human trafficking predators who take advantage of the vulnerabilities of our fellowmen, the government will get you,” Aguirre said in a statement.
IACAT is the body mandated by law to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the Expanded Anti-Human Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
