SEX CRIMES IN THE PHILIPPINES | Facts and Details

INCEST IN THE PHILIPPINES

Dr. Jose Florante J. Leyson wrote in the Encyclopedia of Sexuality: Incest is punished severely if the victim is younger than fifteen years old. Capital punishment by lethal injection was restored during the Ramos administration. Six executions of men convicted of incest have taken place since 1998. [Source: Jose Florante J. Leyson, M.D., Encyclopedia of Sexuality, 2001 |~|]

There are no statistics on the incidence of incest in the Philippines. However, it is quietly known that adolescent girls are often raped by older male family members, and fathers often use them as sexual objects after the death of the mother, or when the wife’s work takes her outside the home for long periods. Abusive males are usually unemployed people with a past history of family violence, high consumption of alcohol, social inadequacy, and impulsive behavior. Although less frequent, cases of incest are also known in which the male is the head of an upper-class household and respected by his community. Cases of incest in middle- and upper-class families seldom surface while the victim is a minor. The trauma may emerge during private sexual therapy with an older woman, but there is a strong reluctance on the part of most victims to make formal charges. Generally, indictment for incest by judicial authorities does not take effect unless a formal complaint has been filed or in cases of public scandal. |~|

Rape and Rape Laws in the Philippines

Dr. Jose Florante J. Leyson wrote in the Encyclopedia of Sexuality: “The seriousness of rape against an individual female was brought to the public eye by the media when a famous actress was “gang raped” in the mid-1960s. The public demanded the severest punishment, the death penalty, and they got it. Execution by hanging, electrocution, or lethal injection as a penalty for rape has been on the books since 1924. The death penalty was abolished in 1987 but reinstated in 1994. In 2000, there were about 900 persons on death row, including a former member of Congress convicted in 1998 and awaiting execution for rape. Even though no actual executions for rape have taken place, the law has been instrumental in helping reduce such incidents [Source: Jose Florante J. Leyson, M.D., Encyclopedia of Sexuality, 2001 |~|]

In one particularly egregious rape case, a congressman was accused of raping a girl that he bought from her stepfather. When he was arrested he joked, “When you do it, do you ask for a birth certificate?” He claimed she was at the legal age of consent of 12 (an effort to raise the age of statutory rape to 14 has been unsuccessful).

After nine years of debate, the House of Representatives finally, in 1997, approved the bicameral conference report on a new law that heavily penalizes rape and makes it easier for government prosecutors to prosecute rape cases. This anti-rape law reclassifies rape from “a crime against chastity” to “a crime against a person.” Thus, if the victim is a minor and refuses to accuse the perpetrator, only the minor’s legal guardian or the court can file a suit. This new law also penalizes marital rape, but opens the door for the spouse to forgive her husband, in which case the charge is voided. The new law also redefines the nature of rape, expanding the traditional definition of forced penile insertion in the vagina to include unwanted insertion of the penis, or any object or instrument, in any bodily orifice of another person. These “other acts” are now part of “sexual assault.” The law in the Revised Penal Code also eliminates the gender bias, so that a woman can now be charged with raping a man. Finally, the law makes it possible to present evidence in court, in which presumption is created in favor of a rape victim, so that any overt physical act manifesting resistance in any degree can now be accepted as evidence of rape. Similarly, evidence that the victim was in a situation where she/he was incapable of giving valid consent can now be accepted as evidence of rape. |~|

For many years, the law against rape in the Philippines was described as a law against chastity. This meant that sexually experienced woman often difficulty proving they were raped because they were not virgins. Defense lawyers routinely had rape cases thrown out by arguing the victims was promiscuous because she wasn't a virgin and therefore her chastity was not harmed.

In the mid 1990s, rape-reform became hot topic as reformers attempted to get the law changed so that rape victims were rape victims regardless of whether they were virgins, chaste or no chaste or married. Reformers also wanted to expand the definition of rape from penile penetration to oral and anal penetration with hand and other objects.

The Philippines used to have the death penalty for rape. No rapist however was executed. One lawmaker suggested in 1995 that convicted rapists should have their penises amputated. "Considering the chauvinistic attitude of most Filipino males, having one's sexual organ cut off is worse than death itself," the lawmaker said.

Sexual Harassment and Abuse in the Philippines

Dr. Jose Florante J. Leyson wrote in the Encyclopedia of Sexuality: The Euro-American concept of sexual harassment has no place in the tradition of Filipina subservience to males that is part of marianismo, the symbiotic culture to machismo. However, the experience of sexual harassment is emerging in the social consciousness, as Filipinas respond to Western influences and begin to assert their personal and political rights. Women from the barrios and small towns are easily intimidated, but it is the sophisticated and well-educated women who challenge the “old-boy buddy” system and file complaints. Sexual harassment is punished through an administrative indictment that may end with a dismissal from public service. The administrative procedure, however, does not preclude legal action by the alleged perpetrator. The strength of the current law shows that Filipinas are expanding their political presence/clout, and winning the support of men, who know the problem well from inside the system. [Source: Jose Florante J. Leyson, M.D., Encyclopedia of Sexuality, 2001 |~|]

Despite a long colonial period during which wealthy hacienderos controlled and regularly exploited their indigenous female employees without fear that the victims might find some recourse in the justice system, recent educational reforms and the transition to a democratic government are producing a more humane society. However, there is still considerable violence within Filipino households perpetrated by the male head of the household. Abuse of this kind is seldom reported to police, because women know that the male police usually behave in the same way in their homes. [Source: Jose Florante J. Leyson, M.D., Encyclopedia of Sexuality, 2001 |~|]

Attention on work rape was brought to the fore after a married chamber of commerce executive said she was raped by her boss in a motel after a business meeting. The case was significant in that married women usually stay quiet after being raped so as not to humiliate their husbands and families. The boss was arrested and imprisoned.

In the poorest households, girls are conditioned from infancy to accept the violent behavior of their fathers, particularly when they return home intoxicated. The initial physical abuse may lead to sexual intercourse that amounts to marital rape. Faced with a society that until recently did not recognize the possibility of marital rape or a woman’s basic rights, abused women capitulate, repress their feelings, retreat into their taciturn dreams, and continue laboring for the survival of their families, especially their offspring. Even then, if she does not manage to hide at least some of her earnings, the husband may spend them with another woman or drinking with friends. Local newspapers occasionally report domestic incidents when a wife inflicts serious genital damage on her husband while resisting his violent carnal advances. Philippine Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) statistics reported that in the first three quarters of 1998, there were at least 1,152 cases of rape and attempted rape, 656 cases of incest, and 400 cases of lasciviousness. |~|

Philippine Diplomats Involved in Prostituting Filipinas in the Middle East

In 2013, the Philippine government said it was investigating allegations that its diplomatic personnel have trafficked Filipino women in the Middle East who were seeking refuge there. Floyd Whaley wrote in the New York Times, “ Philippine diplomatic and labor officials are alleged to have forced distressed Filipino women, in countries like Kuwait and Jordan, into prostitution in return for safe passage back to the Philippines. “There are allegations that this has become institutionalized in terms of the establishment of sex rings and so forth,” the Philippine secretary of foreign affairs, Albert del Rosario, said at a news conference. “Investigations are being conducted to ascertain the validity of these allegations,” he said. [Source: Floyd Whaley, New York Times, June 24, 2013 ^]

“The investigation by Mr. del Rosario’s department has involved the recalling of 13 heads of diplomatic missions throughout the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. The ambassadors were not implicated in the allegations but were called upon to provide information, he said. The investigation also found three victims who alleged that they were victimized by Filipino diplomatic or labor officials, Mr. del Rosario said. One suspect has been identified and recalled to the Philippines. ^

“A Philippine congressman, Walden Bello, opened an inquiry into the allegations of abuse in early June after receiving information about officials extorting sex in exchange for flights home.

“Our initial investigation into sex for flights revealed something bigger,” Mr. Bello said Monday by telephone. “They were running a prostitution ring out of Philippine embassies in Kuwait and Oman. The information was shocking.” Mr. Bello’s investigation alleged that a Filipino diplomat in Damascus had sex with five distressed Filipino female workers seeking shelter in the embassy, in separate incidents. The congressman also reported that a senior Filipino labor official in Jordan was prostituting Filipino women for $1,000 per night. The investigation found another labor official in Kuwait who is accused of running a similar operation using Filipino workers seeking shelter. ^

““These criminals parading as officials must be stripped of their positions, recalled to the Philippines and prosecuted,” Mr. Bello said during a June 18 press conference. Mr. del Rosario said that a hot line had been established for other victims to come forward and that it was producing additional information, he said. “We will be able to punish the guilty, and we also will be able to review all the policies and procedures governing our conduct pertaining to cases such as this,” he said.” ^

58 Arrested in Philippines over Global 'Sextortion'

In May 2014, fifty-eight people were arrested in the Philippines for their involvement in a giant, global Internet "sextortion" network, local police and Interpol said. AFP reported: “Victims in foreign countries have been lured by people in the Philippines into giving sexually explicit photos or videos about themselves online, then blackmailed for many thousands of dollars, the authorities said. "The scale of this extortion network is massive," the director of Interpol's Digital Crime Centre, Sanjay Virmani said. "These crimes are not limited to any one country and nor are the victims. That's why international cooperation in investigating these crimes is essential." [Source: AFP, May 2, 2014]

Philippine police chief Alan Purisima said the 58 people arrested would be charged over a range of crimes, including engaging in child pornography, extortion and using technologies to commit fraud. It was not immediately clear whether all 58 arrested were Filipinos, although authorities initially made no mention of any foreigners who may have been directly involved in the Philippines. However, authorities emphasised the Philippines was not the hub of the global sextortion network, only that the current investigation had focused on the Southeast Asian nation.

Purisima said the scam typically involved someone posing as an attractive, young lady making contact with people overseas via Facebook and other social media, then seeking to establish a relationship with them. "After getting acquainted with the victims… they engage in cybersex, and this will be recorded unknown to the victims," he said. "They then threaten to release it to friends and relatives." He said victims had paid between 500 pesos ($11) and 500,000 pesos ($11,000). While he said elderly men were often targeted, children were also victims. A Scottish police chief who also briefed reporters at the press conference said one boy in Scotland had committed suicide after being extorted. He said the boy was 17 when he killed himself.

In the late 1990s, countries like Guyana, the Philippines, Poland, Netherlands Antilles, Sao Tome and the Dominican Republic earned a large amounts foreign exchange from audiotext service (sex-lines and other pay phone service) who routed their calls through phone companies in these countries. The way the system worked was that an American paid his bill to his American long-distance phone company, who shared the money with the foreign phone company that received the call. The foreign phone companies in turn shared their revenues with the audiotext services that used the exchange for the foreign phone company.

Another 'Sextortion' Ring Exposed

In August 2014, Philippine police arrested eight suspects and searched for others linked to an online extortion scheme that targeted hundreds of victims in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau, officials said. According to authorities, the group was involved in “sextortion,” a crime in which victims are tricked online into sharing explicit content that is later used for blackmail. Police said the arrests were made during a raid in towns near Manila, where eight suspects were taken into custody along with five minors who had allegedly been recruited into the operation. Some suspects are believed to have escaped before the raid. [Source: AFP, August 23, 2014]

Investigators said the group used social media platforms like Facebook to contact victims overseas. They then persuaded them to join video calls on apps such as Skype, where the victims were encouraged to engage in explicit activity. Unbeknownst to them, the sessions were secretly recorded.

Once enough compromising footage had been captured, the suspects would abruptly end the call and send threats to the victim, often including proof of the recording. Victims were told to pay large sums of money—sometimes as much as $30,000—or risk having the videos shared publicly or sent to family and friends.

Police said around 400 people were targeted, and the case came to light after multiple complaints. Initially, the group used adult women to lure victims but later recruited minors, who were trained to participate in the scheme. The minors have since been placed under the care of social services, while the suspects are expected to face charges including human trafficking and extortion.

Authorities are also investigating whether this group is connected to a larger sextortion network that was dismantled earlier, involving dozens of suspects operating from call center-like setups. In that case, victims from around the world were targeted, including a teenage boy in Scotland who later died by suicide.

Officials noted that this newer group operated more flexibly, often working from home using internet connections rather than centralized offices. International police agency Interpol has warned that sextortion is becoming more common, driven by the widespread use of social media and mobile internet access.

Philippine-Based Cybersex 'Dens'

In the mid 2010s troubling online trend emerged in the Philippines in which both women and men were being drawn into a large cybersex industry—sometimes against their will. Victims were reportedly confined and forced to perform sexual acts on camera for paying viewers abroad, according to anti-trafficking advocates. [Source: Erin Hale, Forbes, September 22, 2016]

While so-called cybersex “dens” had existed for years, authorities and aid groups noted a sharp rise in cases involving children, especially through live-streaming platforms. Easier internet access had created new ways for traffickers to exploit people remotely, making the crime harder to detect and stop.

Data from the Philippine National Police showed over a hundred cases of children exploited in cybersex operations in a single year, prompting expanded efforts to address the problem. Law enforcement worked with international partners such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Australian Federal Police, and Interpol, but the crime remained difficult to control.

New technologies—such as webcams, livestreaming, and online payment systems—had made it easier for offenders to operate anonymously and for buyers to pay from abroad. In some cases, exploitation happened within the home, where relatives coerced children due to financial hardship. Investigations by groups like the International Justice Mission found that many victims in cybersex trafficking cases were very young, often younger than those in traditional forms of trafficking.

Poverty remained a major factor, but cybersex trafficking proved harder to trace because livestreams left little evidence compared to recorded images or videos. Advocacy groups pushed for stronger laws, including making it illegal to watch live-streamed abuse, especially in countries where many buyers were located. At the same time, organizations like the International Organization for Migration used online platforms to raise awareness and reach victims, though efforts to stop this form of exploitation continued to face major challenges.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993; “Culture Shock!: Philippines” by Alfredo Roces and Grace Roces, Marshall Cavendish International, 2010; Metropolitan Museum of Art; National Geographic, Live Science, Philippines Department of Tourism, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Library of Congress, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated March 2026