| Lawmakers seek stiffer penalties against mail-order bride services |
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| Feb 05, 2010 at 01:50 PM | |
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LAWMAKERS are pushing for stiffer penalties against persons found guilty of exploiting Filipino women by engaging them in mail-order bride services, which is considered form of Internet prostitution. House Bill 6961 which was filed by CIBAC party-list Representatives. Cinchona Cruz Gonzales and Emmanuel Joel Villanueva states that violators shall face a jail term of up to 20 years and pay a fine of not more than P100,000. In addition, if the offender is a foreigner, he shall be immediately deported and barred perpetually from entering the country after serving his sentence and payment of fine. Currently, violators of Republic Act (RA) 6955, or the 1990 Anti-Mail Order Bride Law are meted a jail term of up to six years. Gonzales argued that because of R.A. 6955, companies engaged in the mail-order bride services have moved into cyberspace devoted to matching men with Filipinas. “Filipino women were gravely abused by syndicates or people who conduct business and make women a commodity to be bought either through the Internet, website or other written materials,” Gonzales said. Under House Bill 6961, it shall be unlawful for anyone to establish or carry on a matchmaking website business, which offers membership for free to Filipino women for marriage to foreign nationals either on a mail-order basis or through personal introduction by way of recruitment or through e-mails or websites. The measure also states it shall also be unlawful to advertise, publish, print or distribute any brochure, flier or any propaganda material including those distributed and made available through the Internet. Also, it shall be unlawful to use the postal service and the Internet to promote the mail order bride business according to the measure. The measure also seeks to penalize Filipino women who voluntarily engage in matchmaking activities and those who patronize the mail-order bride business as an accessory to the offense charged. The manager, editor in chief, or advertising manager of any newspaper, magazine, television, radio station and other media including internet websites are likewise prohibited from allowing or consenting to the above mentioned unlawful acts. Villanueva said with the advent of the Internet, online matchmaking websites have flourished and thus have largely replaced traditional paper-based classifieds. “This is what they call the new era’s professional prostitution or high end pornography through the web. It downgrades the integrity not only of Filipino women but the country as a whole,” said Villanueva. --Jomar Canlas, Manila Times |
