An emotional President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday urged the government and the public to take collective action and exert extra effort to eradicate cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children

In his speech, Marcos said: '' For us to allow this to happen in our country, it brings to me an overwhelming sense of shame because being in government, being in public service, we are not doing enough. We must do more.”

“It is sexual abuse and exploitation of children. And I leave it to your imagination, and I would imagine in some cases your imagination cannot even begin to fathom what is done to these poor children ? to our poor children,” the President added.

He said this is ''one of the greatest challenges of our time.''

Marcos said he became emotional while hearing the story of a victim, her ordeal, and the suffering she went through.

“And so, we must do more. We must do more. One of the most important parts of the Filipino culture is family. We are known around the world for that. We are so well known for it that we are ? Filipinos are the number one caretakers of foreign children all around the world,” Marcos said.

“We must do more,” he stressed.

Records from the Philippine National Police (PNP) show that 1,099 victims were rescued from 237 operations, 138 suspects were arrested, 139 cases were filed, and 41 perpetrators were convicted. Presidential News Desk