President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. passed an order creating a government office whose sole function is to help ensure the protection of children from abuse and exploitation.

The President issued Executive Order No. 67 last Tuesday creating the Presidential Office for Children Protection (POCP) whose mandate is solely to defend the rights of children and help provide special protection to them.

The POCP will address the problem of growing online smut that involves the abuse and criminal exploitation of children. The new office will help fight against Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) cases and other threats to the welfare and well-being of Filipino children.

The establishment of the new office is also consistent with the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 of the Marcos administration, which underscores “the protection of children from physical and mental distress as a key strategy in achieving a transformative social system.”

The President said the establishment of the POCP is “imperative to ensure a whole-of-nation approach in strengthening existing institutional and legal framework on child protection.”

The office will be headed by the Presidential Adviser for Child Protection (PACP) and will be under the control and supervision of the Special Assistant to the President. The four-page EO was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on August 6, 2024.

“The POCP shall monitor and harmonize government thrusts, policies and programs relative to the protection of children and the promotion of their welfare, with special focus on anti-OSAEC, and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM), and anti-child trafficking matters,” the EO states.

The POCP is also tasked to submit policy recommendations to the President, as well as monitor the implementation of Presidential directives, or priority programs and projects regarding the welfare and protection of children.

The new edict further states that the PACP, which will represent the Office of the President, shall be a member of the National Coordination Center (NCC), the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), the National Council Against Child Labor (NCACL), and the Committee for the Special Protection of Children (CSPC).

The EO will take effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. | PND