Manila: The stringent enforcement of law penalizing online sexual abuse of children and the institutionalization of a 24/7 support for children needing support have propelled the Philippines to the 15th spot globally in the 2026 Out of the Shadows Index, marking a breakthrough in protecting minors from sexual violence. Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) Undersecretary Angelo Tapales said Thursday that the country's rise to 15th out of 60 evaluated nations is a substantial leap from 2022, when the Philippines sat at the 25th spot.
According to Philippines News Agency, Tapales specified that the country's aggressive legislative and institutional reforms against both online and offline sexual violence served as the primary drivers for the international index upgrade. "So, it's a recognition of the good things that government is really doing for children, sexual violence, whether online or offline," Tapales said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview. "As I always say during my interviews, the Philippines is a pathfinding country for violence against children, and we have been since 2016."
The CWC highlighted Republic Act (RA) 11930, or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) Act enacted in July 2022, as the foundational legislation that tilted the international rating in favor of the Philippines. "It's a trailblazing law in the sense that it really addresses online sexual abuse. Hindi lahat ng bansa ay mayroon ganoong klaseng batas kaya medyo ito ay ginagaya at kinaiinggitan ng ating mga ibang kapitbahay (not all countries have this type of legislation, which is why it is being emulated and envied by some of our neighboring nations)," Tapales explained.
Complementing this legal framework is Executive Order (EO) 79, series of 2024, which institutionalized the Makabata Helpline 1383 as the government's centralized, real-time reporting portal for children. The state also established EO 67, creating the Presidential Office for Child Protection to appoint a dedicated presidential adviser to ensure these child protection initiatives are streamlined directly from the executive level down to the grassroots.
For a decade, the country has been recognized as a global benchmark in the children's sector, with Valenzuela City being declared the world's first pathfinding city for violence against children back in 2019. Despite the global recognition generated by RA 11930 and the Makabata Helpline, Tapales admitted that systemic challenges remain, such as clogged court dockets and understaffed law enforcement units.
While the anti-OSAEC law mandates special prosecutors for cases, more funding is required to fully equip the Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group, and the Women and Children Protection Center with modern technological disruption equipment. To sustain the country's improved ranking, the government is already moving to amend RA 11930 to explicitly cover artificial intelligence (AI) and modern gaming platforms.
"Based on data, 1,325 percent increase kasi iyan globally noong 2024. So, we are watching out for AI at saka siyempre iyong sinasabi nilang quantum technology na problematic din (because that is global back in 2024. So, we are watching out for AI, as well as what they call quantum technology, which is also quite problematic)," Tapales said. "So, kaya po kailangang i-amend iyong batas so that even AI-generated pictures or videos na malalaswa ng bata, iyan po talaga ay mapaparusahan po natin at mapo-prosecute nang maayos (that is why the law needs to be amended so that we can effectively penalize and properly prosecute individuals involved even with obscene, AI-generated pictures or videos of children)."
