By Fr. Shay Cullen

The world is again facing a huge spike in oil prices and shortages of fertilizer and other oil-based commodities that are worsening world hunger and driving thousands more poor people to starvation in Africa as Iran continues to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and block oil tankers. Twenty percent of the world’s total oil supply and 33 percent of global fertilizers essential for food production pass through the strait daily. Diesel and gasoline prices in the Philippines — and elsewhere — drastically increased this past week by over P10 and P3 per liter, respectively. This is because the United States continues to bomb Iranian infrastructure and military targets nonstop. Alleged war crimes, some say. In retaliation, Iran is attacking US bases in the Middle East.

With oil prices skyrocketing and the current energy crisis becoming more serious, Donald Trump’s administration could lose control of the Senate and House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections. He cannot find a diplomatic way out of the war with Iran, which the US and Israel launched on Feb. 28, and continues to try to bomb Tehran into submission. That is not going to succeed. The 49 years of hatred and loathing the Islamic Republic has for the US will carry them to fight to the last man. There will be no surrender.

Countries are moving to expand and harness their renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar power, geothermal and biomass, to produce oil-free electricity. This is the way to secure and stable electric energy supply.

In the Philippines, solar energy has increased, propelled by high electricity rates and fuel price hikes. Roof-top solar panels have nearly doubled over the past year to 1,300 megawatts. But there is still a long way to go. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), the Philippines sources its energy from coal (40.6 percent), renewables (32.9 percent), natural gas (15.8 percent), and oil (10.8 percent). Fossil fuels still produce roughly 75 percent of the country’s electricity.

Transportation in the country is threatened by the war on Iran and high fuel prices. Electric vehicles (EVs) make up only 1 percent of cars on the road, unlike in Norway, where the figure is 90 percent. Here, EVs account for about 17 percent of new car sales. There are too few charging stations right now. Unless electric charging hubs are in every gasoline station and spread along our expressways, EVs will have few customers and generate low sales.

As an occasional driver of a new Wuling EV Starlight van used to bring children to school and elsewhere, this writer could say it is excellent in all respects, other than its weak battery and nonfunctional remote door lock. It cost P1.2 million, thanks to generous donors. However, the battery charge does not cover the 300 kilometers advertised. Road tests show that the maximum range is only 220 km for every full charge, which leaves Wuling open to complaints of false and misleading advertising, which is a violation of Republic Act (RA) 7394, or the Philippine Consumers Act.

If Wuling President and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Lee and his wife Shamcey Supsup-Lee are the good people they are said to be, they will consider exchanging the low-performance Wuling EV sold to the Preda Foundation’s children’s home for a better Wuling van (for an addition payment of P200,000 that a donor is offering). This better model will enable us to bring children in our shelters on home visits to the provinces and to testify in court against their abusers. Our legal office is fighting for justice with good prosecutors, and together with the children, we win an average of 20 convictions every year from just and honest judges.

We pray and look forward to receiving this new Wuling EV model, which has an advertised 400-km range. More on this in future columns. EVs are so important for the environment; we need the best. Can Wuling provide it?

Terrible damage

Preda social workers and therapists see daily the terrible damage inflicted on young victims of sexual abuse by people influenced by corrupting child-abuse images on social media platforms that are supported by telecommunications companies (telcos). These firms and internet service providers (ISPs) have still not installed state-of-the-art blocking software as the law demands. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is even more powerless to control the telcos and seems compromised.

Even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was shocked by the horrific and notorious child abuse images on social media, is apparently powerless to make the telcos obey the law. They are a power unto themselves and seem to be above the law, making the Philippines a hub for international child abuse images to be accessed by anyone — including children — at any time, from anywhere.

We know this because sex offenders as young as 13 admitted to viewing child abuse images on the internet — which, again, were allowed to spread by the ISPs and telcos — with them saying these drove them to rape girls as young as six. Preda’s social workers and therapists are helping the victims, while the abusers are admitting how they were influenced by easily accessible sex videos proliferating on the internet.

Several countries have passed laws banning children 16 and younger from accessing social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, because of harmful content found in them, including explicit images of sexual abuse and exploitation. Among these countries are Australia, France, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil.

More countries are following suit, and our Congress is debating proposed laws banning minors from social media, which telcos and the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines oppose. Several groups are also against a total ban and advocate for targeted regulation, digital literacy, and platform accountability. However, the true answer is to strictly implement the law to control the telcos and ISPs.

The telcos are not obeying the law and are allegedly in cahoots with the NTC. That alleged blatant corruption is the root of the problem and the reason children are being sexually abused and trafficked online, and are viewing child sex abuse images and videos online.

The laws regulating the internet and mandating blocking software to stop child sexual abuse are RA 9775, or the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, and RA 11930, or the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act. These are being violated, and that is why new, tougher legislation is being proposed.

There is no greater need today than such a social media ban to wake up the telcos and the government to protect our children and teach them to protect themselves from such dangerous content and use the internet only for good.

Email: shaycullen@gmail.com