Swedish Ecpat Promote Code Of Conduct

Thirty
Internet cafe owners in Cagayan de Oro signed over the weekend a code of
conduct, vowing to filter known pornographic sites in their respective
establishments.
    The code of
conduct was signed in the presence of a Swedish-based church group known as
Ecpat Philippines whose
representatives came to the city all the way from Manila for the purpose. Ecpat stands for End
Child Prostitution Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual
Purposes.
    In an
interview, Ecpat advocacy officer Jo Alforque applauded the previous members of
the City Council of Cagayan de Oro for passing an ordinance regulating the
height of private cubicles in Internet cafes and banning private rooms in said
establishments here.
    However,
Alforque said this is not enough, pointing out that kids can always browse at
pornographic websites because these are not banned from the public domain.
    Thus, Ecpat
representatives tours around the country to exhort Internet cafe owners to ban
adult websites.
    For
Internet cafe owners who sign the code of conduct drafted by Ecpat, they will
have stickers bearing the words “This is a child-friendly café”
posted in their respective establishments.
    “This
will surely be an advantage to us Internet cafe owners because parents already
get to trust us that our businesses is safe for kids to patronize,”
remarked Eleanor Aguilar, who owns one Internet cafe in Balulang.