Short answer. Yes. RA 7610 Section 9 punishes anyone who hires, employs, uses, persuades, induces or coerces a child to model in obscene publications or pornographic materials, or to perform in indecent shows. The penalty is prision mayor in its medium period, and it is imposed in its maximum period when the child is below twelve.
What the law says
Any person who shall hire, employ, use, persuade, induce or coerce a child to perform in obscene exhibitions and indecent shows, whether live or in video, or model in obscene publications or pornographic materials or to sell or distribute the said materials shall suffer the penalty of prision mayor in its medium period
RA 7610, Section 9 — Obscene Publications And Shows. Read the full provision →
The range of conduct the section covers
Section 9 is drafted to catch the whole chain around exploitative material, not just the person who takes the photograph. It reaches anyone who shall hire, employ, use, persuade, induce or coerce a child to perform in obscene exhibitions and indecent shows — whether live or in video — or to model in obscene publications or pornographic materials, or even to sell or distribute such materials. Persuasion and inducement are enough; there is no requirement of force. That breadth means a person who arranged, recruited or handled the material can be liable alongside whoever produced it.
The penalty, and why age raises it
The base penalty is prision mayor in its medium period. The section then makes the child's age an aggravating factor: if the child used as a performer, subject or seller/distributor is below twelve (12) years of age, the penalty shall be imposed in its maximum period. The younger the child, the graver the law treats the offence. This built-in escalation reflects that very young children are seen as especially vulnerable, and it operates automatically from the age element rather than requiring some separate circumstance to be pleaded.
Parents and guardians are not spared
The provision closes a gap that would otherwise let those closest to the child escape. Any ascendant, guardian, or person entrusted in any capacity with the care of a child who shall cause and/or allow such child to be employed or to participate in an obscene play, scene, act, movie or show suffers the same prision mayor in its medium period. So a parent or guardian who permits the exploitation — not only strangers who arrange it — falls squarely within the section. Allowing the child's participation is treated as its own punishable act.
How this fits the wider protective scheme
Section 9 sits within RA 7610's broader framework against child abuse and exploitation, and conduct of this kind may also engage other special laws and the Revised Penal Code depending on the facts. The point for a reader is that using a child in this way is unambiguously criminal, and the exposure is not limited to a single producer. Because these are grave, fact-sensitive matters, anyone confronting a real situation — whether reporting suspected abuse or facing an allegation — should seek advice promptly and preserve whatever records exist.