Tag Archives: Children

[People]The Explosion of Child Abuse Online -by Fr. Shay Cullen

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The Explosion of Child Abuse Online
Fr. Shay Cullen
02 October 2010

The Covid-19 pandemic is on everybody’s mind, weighs on the spirit and invades the body, paralyzes social life, and cripples the world economy. Yet, people are adapting, surviving, recovering, and are resilient. They, but a few, are coping with the new normal, a reality that the virus is here to stay for a while longer and we have to live and survive it.

The best of human nature is seen in the dedicated service of health care workers. The risk, they sacrifice, they serve. Many tragically die helping others live. What an inspiration they are as they are saving lives and giving back health to the patients with Covid-19.

It is a privilege to help the poor, the sick and the abused children. They are emotionally, physically, and psychologically damaged by the brutal abuse of criminal adults. The dark side of human nature is always with us but now child abuse is expanding like another pandemic due to lock down.

The live streaming of child sexual abuse and the proliferation of pornography that lead to rape has grown. It is the secret crime, done alone to weak vulnerable children that are threatened and terrified to tell of their suffering and ordeal.

For many, it is the perfect crime but brave and courageous children and child defenders and advocates are fighting back. Wherever there are children, there will be abusers. The only gadget needed today to have online live streaming of child abuse is a low-cost smartphone and an internet connection. The internet service providers of the big telecommunication corporations like PLDT/Smart and Globe Telecoms and soon Dito Telecommunity make it all possible. They should have a greater corporate responsibility to block the abusive images and video passing through their servers. If they obey the law Republic Act 9775, they would install blocking software to prevent child sexual abuse. Solutions are available. Microsoft PhotoDNA and video DNA can filter and block the abusive images but the ISPs allegedly prefer to pay a small fine rather than protect the children. Senator Imee Marcos has filed a Senate resolution No.487 calling for an investigation into the dismal failures of the telecommunications corporations and their ISPs to block child pornography and live to a stream of child abuse under the law.

Jasmin is an 11-year-old child (not her real name) when she was groomed on-line and persuaded by her fake friend to send nude photos of herself and her private parts in return for money. Foolishly, she did it and too late she realized she had been fooled and her pictures appeared as child pornography online via Facebook and likely sold around the world to paedophiles. She is in shock and screams in anger and frustration in the therapy room at the Preda home where she sought help.

Many other children and adults are victims of similar sextortion scams and are being extorted for huge amounts of money by the scammers who lure them into exposing themselves foolishly online. The extortionists are threatening to send the photos to their friends, classmates, parents, and teachers. Suicides are common.

The pedophiles, many unable to travel and abuse children themselves, pay adults to perform sexual acts to children while live over the Internet for money. This is despicable, depraved, and deserving of life in prison. They are like blood-sucking bats that take the lifeblood from their victims.

Even Jesus of Nazareth told us the child is the most important in the world and abusers ought to have a millstone tied around their necks and he be thrown into the depth of the sea (Matthew 18:1-7) That’s tough talk indeed. We have to work for justice for the victims.
Child abuse is with us that long and the world religions, the self-appointed guardians of human morality that claim to be the protectors of children, have betrayed the trust given to them. Many clergies have abused children and it is covered up. It was treated lightly, not the heinous crime it truly is for which abusers must be challenged and held accountable.

Non-government organizations, children’s charities, and government agencies are fighting human trafficking and child abuse. In 2018, Preda children fought back against their rapists and won 18 convictions. In 2019, they won 20 convictions. Almost all got life sentences in jail. Hopefully, more convictions will follow in on-going cases being fought by Preda.

The spreading of child pornography on the Internet to mobile phones incite child rapists to abuse. A child recently rescued by Preda Foundation social workers was Rebecca (not her real name), 14. She was living in a small town in Zambales in dire poverty with her mother. They lived in a small, one-room shack made of bamboo slats and a tin roof. Rebecca is mentally challenged, and her adult male neighbors preyed upon her and raped her many times. They threatened her with a knife if she called out. It happened when she was left alone in the shack and the abuse continued until she became pregnant. Rebecca is now safe in the protection and care of the Preda Foundation home for abused children. The Preda Center will heal and help the child pursue justice against her rapists and have them convicted.

Even children view child pornography and are aroused and as reported here previously three boys in Subic town, Zambales, the youngest 10, gang-raped a six-year-old. In Sta. Cruz, Zambales, a 13-year old boy sexually assaulted a six-year-old girl. The abusers in both these cases were not even reprimanded. In the Subic case, the local authorities allowed the boys to go to relatives in another town instead of getting them counseling and rehabilitation. In the Sta. Cruz case. The boy is still in the community instead of being brought to an Intensive Juvenile Intervention and Support Center. They will likely become adult rapists without help.

This is what is going on daily all over the country. Unless there is less talk and empty promises and more direct positive action to curb online sexual abuse of children, it will only continue to get worse. All who want to help, write your concern to Congresswoman Yeda Marie Romualdez, chairperson of the Committee on the Welfare of Children (https://www.facebook.com/YeddaRomualdez) and Senator Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children and Family Relations (risahq@gmail.com), for them to investigate and challenge the ISPs and bring strict control to the spread of child abuse on the Internet and protect the rights of the children.

shaycullen@gmail.com

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[People] Just Judges Implement the Law for Abused Children -by Fr. Shay Cullen

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Just Judges Implement the Law for Abused Children
Fr. Shay Cullen

Justice has been done and seen to be done by Judge Maria Angelica T. Paras-Quiambao of the Regional Trial Court Branch 59 in Angeles City, Pampanga lasts 11 June 2020. In an 81-page decision, she found Christina Limpin Mendoza, 22, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of five counts of human trafficking for sexual exploitation by foreign pedophiles of two small children nine and 11 over a three year period.
The trafficker was sentenced to several life terms of imprisonment. This is a powerful message that child abusers and human traffickers will bear the full weight of the law. The Preda Foundation was supporting the children all the way in this significant case.

In another case, Judge Gemma Theresa B. Hilario-Logronio of the Regional Trial Court Branch12-FC in Olongapo City found Johnny Torres Medina guilty in a landmark decision dated 14 May 2020. He was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of child sexual abuse of two 11-year old children. The sentence strictly followed the law and sentenced him to many years in jail. The decision has been praised by many and has given much-needed justice to the child victims and encouragement to the child protectors and advocates.

Judge Maria Cristina J. Mendoza-Pizzaro has also given justice to many child victims of rape and abuse. While there is a massive failure of law enforcement to protect children from traffickers and abuse, the courts are ruling strongly in favor of child victims and survivors. Last 10 June 2020 the sixth division of the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of upholding the conviction of a child rapist who was convicted on 15 November 2018 of qualified rape of a seven-year-old child. The original judgment and conviction was made by Judge Maria Cristina J.Mendoza-Pizzaro who has a long significant history of a no-nonsense application of the law with many just convictions of child sexual rapists and traffickers. They will never abuse or rape children again.

The Preda home for children protected the child victims for years and supported the legal action to the conclusion. In 2019, the Preda child protection foundation helped children win twenty convictions including cases against foreigners. In 2018, the Preda children won 18 convictions against their abusers and rapists and traffickers and many every year previously. This is a strong meaningful intervention in the fight for justice for children.

Preda Foundation has successfully assisted international police agencies with their enquires. In 2019, the convicted notorious pedophile, Douglas Slade, was jailed for 24 years in Bristol, the UK with the help of the Preda Foundation. The civil case brought against him in the London High Court by Preda for compensation for his five Filipino victims was successful. Huge awards were won but the lawyer was only able to collect from Slade a small amount.

Convictions send a strong message to pedophiles that they could spend most of their lives in the harsh, unforgiving conditions of jails where they will be unable to rape or abuse more children.

The most vulnerable is society are the children and teenagers that are at great risk of sexual abuse in their own home and in the street and trafficked into brothels or sold as sex slaves to pedophiles.

Angelica, an eight-year-old child (not her real name) was admitted to the Preda home for girls recently. She was sexually tied up by her biological father and sexually assaulted and beaten repeatedly on the head leaving cuts and bruises. The father had abducted her from her mother and he hid away in a remote place where he repeatedly sexually abused her. Her brother Peter, 11, (not his real name) saw the abuse. He too was tied, assaulted, and beaten by the father and is traumatized.

Angelica and Peter got free and ran away and were found by authorities who brought them to the Preda homes for abused traumatized children- the only place that can provide adequate therapy, healing, and legal assistance to them. Angelica is severely traumatized and is receiving affirmation, care, therapy, and counseling. She is just one of the thousands of children sexually assaulted and abused.

In Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, a 15-year old girl, and her18-year old cousin were going home late after a party and were picked up by two police who sexually assaulted them. The 15-year-old escaped and went to the police in another town to report the crime and file a complaint and asked for protection that was denied. While on her way home, a death squad appeared. Two men riding on a motorcycle shot her repeatedly. She was raped and then murdered for filing a complaint against the police. It is outrageous and is the new low level where the value of life had sunk into oblivion in our society.

The world has become a permissive society that turns a blind eye to the extensive abuse in the home and in brothels and through on-line child sexual abuse. The Internet Server Providers (ISPs) violate the law by not installing AI-operated blocking software to filter out child pornography and online abuse and identify the child abusers. Their violation of the law RA 9775 brands them as enablers of child abuse online and child pornography. Let their board members answer to the law and history for that.

Many children are exploited in the sex industry that thrives in sex bars operating with mayor’s permits and police protection. The local government’s approval and support of the sex industry are destroying Filipino family values. It attracts local men and foreigners and destroys families, causes broken homes, abandoned children, and victims of child abuse. It is a corrupting influence and thrives, with sex bars reopening despite the dangers of HIV-AIDS and Coronavirus spreading into the community from the personal person-to-person contact in sexual encounters.

There is a great culture of silence that is condoning the sexual violence and abuse of children. Even the churches and denominations are, with a few exceptions, silent and complicit.

There has to be wide community repentance and conversion of the silent, inactive, do-nothing, say-nothing, think-nothing, feel-nothing clergy and civic leaders that live for their personal ambition and comfort blissfully living fake lives for pleasure in total contradiction of the compassion, justice and truth taught by Jesus of Nazareth and his gospel values.

http://www.preda.org

 

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[Off-the-shelf] Philippines: New report reveals deliberate killings of children during “war on drugs”- by OMCT and CLRDC, Philippines

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Philippines: New report reveals deliberate killings of children during “war on drugs”

Geneva (OMCT) – A new report, published today, documents 122 killings of children, from 1 to 17 years old, throughout the Philippines, between July 2016 and December 2019. The report, titled “How could they do this to my child?”, jointly published by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC, Philippines), shows that the majority of the killings were carried out by police forces or affiliates.

The report is based on information directly collected from the locations where the children were killed, including interviews with local authorities, families and witnesses, and the examination of official documents related to each case. It identifies clear patterns for the killings, including the direct targeting of victims; killings of children as proxies when the real targets could not be found; as a result of mistaken identities; and as so-called “collateral damage”. The report details six cases, with the youngest victim a 20-month old girl.

In one particularly horrific case, a 7-year old boy was killed in cold blood because he had witnessed the murder of an adult by a member of the local authorities. The killings continue, with at least seven children killed from January to March 2020.

“These revelations must be a wake-up call for the international community, who has been largely absent as the Philippine government has kept trampling human rights”, said Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary-General. “Over the past four years, we have hardly seen any meaningful reaction to the wanton killing of thousands of people under the pretext of the “war on drugs”, the targeting of the poorest and most marginalized citizens of the Philippines, and the persecution of human rights defenders, many of whom are in prison for their legitimate work. It is the total lack of accountability that feeds the cycle of violence, including the war on children we are witnessing.”

It is estimated that the total number of extrajudicial killings in the framework of the Philippine government’s anti-drug campaign may run as high as 27,000. Only in one case did the policemen involved get convicted.

This impunity, and the fact that most victims are poor and vulnerable, further increase a climate of terror created by the “war on drugs”. Practically all the families and witnesses interviewed for this report have asked to remain anonymous. Many of them did not file a case for the murder of their child, fearing retaliation. With parents often too afraid to testify, even anonymously, it is likely that the actual numbers of children killed are higher than the 122 documented in the report.

As the United Nations Human Rights Council is about to examine the record of the Philippines, the report sets out detailed recommendations, including for the creation of an independent commission of inquiry into human rights violations in the Philippines, with a special focus on children.

Full access to the report.

The World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) is the main global coalition of NGOs fighting torture and ill-treatment, with 200 members in more than 90 countries. Its international secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC) is the leading child rights organisation in the Philippines.

Media Contact: Iolanda Jaquemet, ij@omct.org, mobile +41 79 539 41 06

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[People] When the Light Shines Again -by Fr. Shay Cullen

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When the Light Shines Again
Fr. Shay Cullen
19 June 2020

It was a happy day for Joshua. He graduated from the Preda vocational training program and proudly held a student’s driver’s license and his graduation certificate while the camera clicked to record the moment and everyone there applauded. It was his day when the light shone for him.

He had completed and passed his driving test at the Preda Home for Boys and completed a course in shielded metal arc welding. He can apply for a job as a basic welder or driver when he gets his license. He was only seven months in the Preda program and his life had dramatically changed at that time.

Joshua was once a child prisoner, locked in a small bare prison cell with graffiti on the walls, a hole in the floor for a toilet, and what a dark dangerous smelly place it was. The dark dungeons of Dicken’s novels were the only comparison.

He became a fighter, a rebellious child prisoner. He opposed all authority, even the cell boss-man couldn’t control him so they beat and kicked him. The world for Joshua was a mean and dangerous place where his survival was threatened every day. They fought over the small food allowance of rice and expired cans of fish. He fought off the bigger youths that tried to rape him. He kicked and gouged and defended himself.

The day came when he was saved from this hell-hole of misery. He was released from the unjust and unnecessary detention. His only so-called crime was he was homeless and broke curfew. His father died when he was ten years old and his stepfather beat him and cursed him. He ran away and took to the streets; there was no home, no acceptance just rejection. The local officials locked him in the youth detention center where the Preda social workers found him bruised, angry, and rebellious.

With the release order signed by the judge, he came to the Preda home for boys in the countryside without fences, no cells just freedom and friendship. It was not an easy transition. His old survivalist ways dominated. He bullied others and fought for dominance as he believed that was what he was supposed to do in this world. He had learned on the streets and the jail cells that no one cares, no one helps, no one loves him.

That changed day by day as he realized that he was cared for, that he was respected, no one bullied him, he joined values formation sessions, education classes and slowly he realized he had landed in a family that cared.

He was respected for the first time in his life and was free to choose to stay and to change and learn. He had emotional release therapy and screamed out his buried pain and hatred for the abuse he suffered. He joined the sports, outings, games, and picnics. Soon, he was taking vocational training. He was transforming. He tamed himself.

He is now a happy, intelligent mature youth together with twenty classmates who are also growing and changing at the Preda home. Most of them are also taking the vocational training course as part of their diversion program under the Philippine Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act (JJWA) or Republic Act 9344 that promotes restorative justice rather than harsh punishment. His graduation day and chance to be reintegrated into his sister’s family were when the light shone for him. It was a new day, a bright shining moment when he knew that he was truly accepted respected as a person of value and had true friends and would be helped to succeed in life.

Benjie, only 16, has completed many hours of electrical repair training and driving which will be a good chance for him to get a job when he leaves the Preda home and becomes of legal age. He has completed his Alternative Learning System (ALS) education which is a substitute for the years he missed for high school after he was arrested for making and possessing illegal drugs. He discovered his true self, has human value and dignity at Preda home for boys. Thousands have been helped since 1974 to find recovery, peace, and success in life. The light has shone for many like Benjie. His life story is a sad one as he tells it.

“My parents are separated; I was left with my grandmother in the slums when I was 10. Lola (grandmother) became old and sickly because we had no money and I begged for food. When I was 14 years old I tried to support her by selling vegetables from the open market but it was wasn’t enough for survival. We ate the rotten ones and bought pag-pag (uneaten leftovers from restaurants). Then a drug dealer recruited me, offered me cash and food, and then drugs. I got hooked myself and I owed him money and worked for him. I was controlled by this gangster drug dealer, there was no way out. He threatened me and would kill Lola if I ran away and refused to deliver his dirty drugs. I was set for a life as a criminal and would likely be dead because of the war against drugs. If I was not saved by Preda and that lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), I would have been killed for sure.”

When Preda social workers intervened and the judge agreed to send Benjie to Preda, that was when the light shone for him. He graduated and has a bright future ahead of him. He can make his way in life and will succeed and his children will learn the values of respect and love and dignity.

As many as 1,230 children are confined today in youth detention centers as far as we know. There could be more that we don’t know. They are deprived of liberty and behind bars or in cages around the Philippines. The Preda Foundation has campaigned for the release of the children and as of today the number released is 323 children so far. There is hope and we must continue to advocate for the release of the unjustly jailed children.

shaycullen@gmail.com
http://www.preda.org

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[People] Child Abuse over the Internet -by Fr. Shay Cullen

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Child Abuse over the Internet
Fr. Shay Cullen
28 May 2020

They are the two latest arrivals at the Preda Foundation’s beautiful home for exploited children set in the countryside surrounded by wooded hills beside a small stream. The children are Pedro, 12, and Angelica, 7, victims of online sexual abuse perpetrated by the uncle with the knowledge of their parents. They are now rescued and are happily playing with toys and recovering from the abuse.

They were rescued from an abusive uncle who sexually abused them. He made a video whereby he put his cell phone into his briefs and blindfolded the children and told them to look for it. He videotaped the sexual abuse that followed and uploaded it on YouTube. He was detected and the Philippine National Police Women and Children Protection Center (PNP-WCPC) of Region 4A tracked him down and arrested him.

A week previously, three more child victims of cyber sexual abuse were rescued also through the intervention of the International Justice Mission (IJM) together with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the PNP-WCPC. The children were brought by government social workers to the Preda home. The government has no more capacity for the victims and has no commitment to financially support them at the Preda home. They had been sexually abused by their own step-mother in online exposure to Australian pedophiles over the Philippine internet service providers either PLDT/Smart or Globe when arrested. These companies are violating Philippine law by not blocking child pornography and allowing live streaming of child sexual abuse. Soon, there may be international sanctions against them if they don’t obey the Philippine and international laws to protect children online.

The Philippines is a global hot spot of child sexual abuse online. It is growing more severe with the Coronavirus lock-down and restricted international travel. Many more foreign pedophiles are seeking sexual gratification by having children abused live online while they watch. Parents and relatives are the perpetrators and the ISPs that enable it.

The frequency and number of reported incidents of online sexual child abuse have exploded. The US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which operates the Cyber Tipline Report (CTR), has a hotline for cases of online exploitation of children and has recorded 279,166 reports from March 1 to May 24, 2020, according to the Philippine Department of Justice. The number is greater by 264.63 percent or by 202,605 incidents in comparison to the figures recorded at this time last 2019. Then there were 76,561 reports of on-line sexual abuse of small children. This a shocking and disgusting figure of this heinous crime. The NCMEC is a US private non-government agency funded by the US government.

Another study led by the International Justice Mission (IJM) shows that Philippine internet-based child sexual abuse had tripled in the past three years. The study showed that the number of Philippine IP accounts that were used for child sexual exploitation online increased from about 23,333 in 2014 to the whopping total of 81,723 by 2017. So over a three year period, the increase in the number of Internet IP addresses used that shared images and acts of sexual abuse of children increased from 43 per 10,000 IP addresses to 149 per 10,000 IP addresses- a massive and shocking increase in the child sexual abuse of Filipino children.

This evil inclination of the pedophiles and their enablers that are damaging thousands of children shows a serious failure of irresponsible government officials to implement existing laws to protect the nation’s children. The enablers that make it possible are the internet server providers such as PLDT/Smart and Globe Telecommunications. Soon, a new player DITO Telecommunity will be a provider of access to the internet.

The ever vigilant and straight-talking man of action, President Rodrigo Duterte, intolerant of child sexual abuse, must use all his presidential power to protect the children and get the National Telecommunication Commission, headed by Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba and Deputy Commissioner Delilah F. Delesto to explain why the Electronic and Internet Service Providers such as PLDT/Smart and Globe have not installed detection software to block the uploading and downloading of child pornography and online live-streaming of the sexual abuse of children as provided by law.

The NTC was so quick to issue a “Cease and Desist Order” against ABS-CBN for no fault other than the non-renewal of its franchise but how much more important is the protection of little children, some three-year-olds from online sexual abuse about which the NTC appears to do nothing, favoring PLDT and Globe? These powerful Internet Servers PLDT headed by Manuel V. Pangilinan and Globe headed by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala must answer for the child abuse that is happening over their internet servers. Have they “captured” the regulators at the NTC and have an arrangement NOT to implement the clear provisions of the law? Would they lose the revenue of more than 82,000 or even 100,000 paying customers perhaps?

Republic Act 9557, under Section 9, says: “The duties of Internet Server Providers (ISP) to monitor the content passing through their servers notify the police of illegal content and provide the authorities the particulars of users who gained or attempted to gain access to an Internet address which contains any form of child pornography. All ISPs shall install available technology, program, or software to ensure access to or transmittal of any form of child pornography will be blocked or filtered.” (See the complete law at http://www.preda.org). The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, Republic Act No. 10175 bans cybersex and child pornography, among other things.

What appears to be a collusion between government agencies and the telecommunications companies enables 24/7 access to horrific images of children being tortured, raped, and abused. The pernicious and evil abuse of online streaming of children being sexually abused must be stopped by the NTC and the ISPs. Can President Duterte be the one man that can do it? Who are the worst criminals? They who do it? They who order and pay for it? Or those in the NTC and ISPs who enable it to happen? All three must be held to account and face the sanctions of the just laws.

http://www.preda.org

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[Video] Buhay-bahay (Situation of Women and Children Under Lockdown) -iDEFEND, PAHRA

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Situation of Women and Children Under Lockdown

Kasama sina:

Jelen Paclarin
Executive Director,
Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau (WLB)

Dr. Maria Lourdes Mendoza
Women and Children Protection Unit,
Northern Mindanao Medical Center

Julie Ann Regalado
Division Chief, Child Rights Center
Commission on Human Rights

Rowena Legaspi
Executive Director,
Children’s Legal and Research Development Center (CLRD)

Krissi Shaffina Twyla Rubin
OIC,
Center for Gender Equality and Women’s Human Rights
Commission on Human Rights

Moderator:
Ritz Lee Santos III
Executive Director,
Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw Inc. (BALAOD Mindanaw)

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[Statement] Children’s Rights must be respected at all times even in containing the COVID-19 virus -CLRDC

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The Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC), an organization that promotes child protection and restorative justice, recognizes the threat posed by COVID-19 to nations around the world. The magnitude of the public health, economic, and social impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic led to the Philippine government’s proclamation of a state of a public health emergency.

While we acknowledge and support the efforts of the government to address this escalating crisis, we are also alarmed by the growing number of reports of abuses and violence allegedly committed against children in light of the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Luzon. Children as a vulnerable sector, continue to be at risk, not only of this infectious disease but also of abuse, exploitation, and violence amid the global COVID-19 outbreak. For the past few days, CLRDC has received verified and monitored reports of children being arrested and detained for curfew violations, being threatened of physical harm including alleged threats of being shot, shaving of hair and shaming, and torture among others. This includes the detention of minors in a dog cage who violate curfew hours, and alleged placing of minors inside a coffin to deter curfew violations among others.

The said incidents are blatant violations of the Anti- Torture Act, and other child protection policies especially Republic Act No. 10630 known as the Comprehensive Juvenile Justice and Welfare System.

Let our duty bearers be reminded that under Republic Act No. 10630 no penalty shall be imposed upon minors who violate curfew ordinances and they shall be immediately released to the custody of their parents.

“Ordinances enacted by local governments concerning juvenile status offenses such as, but not limited to, curfew violations, truancy, parental disobedience, anti-smoking and anti-drinking laws, as well as light offenses and misdemeanors against public order or safety such as, but not limited to, disorderly conduct, public scandal, harassment, drunkenness, public intoxication, criminal nuisance, vandalism, gambling, mendicancy, littering, public urination, and trespassing, shall be for the protection of children. No penalty shall be imposed on children for said violations, and they shall instead be brought to their residence or to any barangay official at the barangay hall to be released to the custody of their parents.” (Republic Act No. 10630, Section 57-A)

Also, Section 5.2.10 of DILG Memo Circular No. 2020-062, which is the suppletory LGU guidelines on the implementation of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), prohibits the commission of human rights violations during the implementation of the ECQ.

We thus urge our government to remain faithful to the rule of law and ensure that fundamental rights remain in place despite the mounting pressure brought about by the ongoing health crisis. We urge our law enforcement officers and other persons in authority to respond to this crisis in a manner consistent with existing laws and protocols and to be guided by the principles of human rights especially when dealing with children. CLRDC remains committed to the protection and welfare of the children in this difficult time as we have done so in the past.

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[From the web] Philippine Children Face Abuse for Violating COVID-19 Curfew -HRW

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Young People Locked in Dog Cages, Coffins, Stripped Naked
By Margaret Wurth and Carlos H. Conde

Philippine authorities have subjected children to absurdly abusive treatment for violating curfew and quarantine rules imposed to limit exposure to COVID-19.

Police and local officials in several parts of the country have mistreated people detained for violating COVID-19 regulations, including by confining them to dog cages and forcing them to sit for hours in the midday sun.

Reports shared with Human Rights Watch by child rights groups in Manila show that children are among those facing cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment for violating pandemic emergency measures.

In Cavite province, two children were locked in a coffin on March 26 as punishment for violating curfew. On March 20, officials in Santa Cruz town, Laguna province, locked five young people inside a dog cage. In Binondo, Manila, village officials arrested four boys and four girls on March 19 for violating curfew. They forcibly cut the hair of seven of the children while the one who resisted was stripped naked and ordered to walk home.

Even when adults are arrested it can create risks for children. As of March 30, the authorities had arrested more than 17,000 people for violations of COVID-19 emergency measures, according to Rappler. In some cases, children’s caregivers have been arrested for violating COVID-19 regulations. In Tacloban City, a mother was arrested on March 24 for allowing her children to play outdoors.

Things could get worse. On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte, whose murderous “war on drugs” has killed thousands of people since 2016, said that his orders to the police and military during the pandemic were “if there is trouble, … shoot them dead.”

The Philippines already has a terrible record of criminalizing children, with members of Congress attempting to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12, with some having proposed it to be lowered to 9. If enacted, this could put more and younger children behind bars in dangerous detention facilities.

Human Rights Watch has urged governments to prioritize the right to health and respect everyone’s human rights as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Locking up people for violating emergency measures such as curfews and quarantine rules may actually increase disease transmission if people are placed in close proximity to one another in detention facilities. Children should not face criminal sanctions for violating emergency measures.

Philippine authorities should focus on measures that could actually help stop the spread of COVID-19.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/03/philippine-children-face-abuse-violating-covid-19-curfew

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[Featured site] SaferKidsPH

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About
SaferKidsPH works with children and their families, the Philippine Government, civil society and the private sector to ensure that children are safe and protected online.

Company Overview
The pioneering consortium composed of the Australian Embassy, Save the Children, The Asia Foundation, and UNICEF, created to reduce online sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the Philippines.

Visit SaferKidsPH @https://www.saferkidsph.org

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[From the web] ‘Worse than prison’: Abuses in Philippine youth homes -PhilStar.com

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Eleven-year-old Jerry’s crime was breaking curfew laws after fleeing violence at home. His punishment? Being sent to a youth detention centre, where he says he endured sexual abuse.

Officially called “Houses of Hope”, proponents in the Philippines say such facilities are places for reformation and education, but critics slam many of them as “hellholes” where children are treated like caged animals.

Rights’ groups say Jerry should never have been detained under current laws, but warn a proposed bill to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12, will mean thousands more children will be sent to overcrowded and underfunded centres — leaving them vulnerable to mistreatment.

Read more @www.philstar.com

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[Statement] 2019 Salinlahi statement on the non-passage of LMACR bill

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Salinlahi congratulates the organizations and advocates that have been actively taking part in the campaign against the lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12 years old. Such triumph, although maybe temporary, considering the current political landscape, is undeniably a leap forward in our collective struggle in protecting and defending the rights and welfare of Filipino children and their marginalized families.

It is noteworthy to underscore the concerted efforts of the broad opposition that foiled the attempt to legislate this anti-children and anti-poor measure despite the fact that such measure is included among the 12 priority legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Salinlahi together with various child rights groups in the Philippines persevered in emphasizing that entrenched poverty in the country is one of the push factors why thousands of children resort to committing crimes for survival; that the government should perceive children in conflict with the law (CICL) as victims of circumstances they are into and therefore should be treated in a restorative way; that there are already scientific studies and researches showing that the developmental immaturity of children mitigates their criminal culpability and; that the move to lower the minimum age of criminal liability is tantamount to abandoning our international commitment on children’s rights. Moreover, we also highlighted the urgency of fully implementing the JJWA before any amendments to the law.

We prevailed in our stand that the promotion of the rights and welfare of children is mainly an obligation of the state, which is a sharp contrast to Duterte’s fascist and tyrannical leadership as it put the lives of Filipino children in great peril by implementing policies like war on drugs, martial law in Mindanao and by also proposing the revival of mandatory reserved officer’s training corps (ROTC) for senior high school.

In 2017, Salinlahi led the formation of Unity of Child Rights Advocates Against Inhumane Treatment of Neglect of Children (UNCHAIN Children) that lobbied with various government agencies and officials. Various advocacy activities were conducted in offices, in schools, and in communities in order to create wide public support that could reinforce our initiatives at the policy level. Legislative forum in the House of Representatives and Senate of the Philippines was initiated to raise the awareness of the legislators and their staff on the issue and convince them not to support the proposed amendment. Meanwhile, lawmakers were insistent on their argument that syndicates are using children in criminality.

We express gratitude to all the child rights groups, human rights organizations, medical professionals, faith-based institutions and child experts who actively participated in the committee and sub-committee hearings as well as plenary sessions to discuss our stand that only fell on the deaf ears of most of the legislators who deviously railroad its approval in the lower house.

We highly commend the 34 legislators who voted down the proposed bill including the party-list representatives of the Makabayan Bloc such Gabriela, Bayan Muna, Kabataan, Kabataan, and Anakpawis – who also delivered privilege speeches and interpellated during plenary sessions to re-echo our position. At the same time, we highly appreciate the commitment of some senators to defend the JJWA including Grace Poe, Nancy Binay, Francis Pangilinan, Riza Hontiveros, Win Gatchalian, Sonny Trillanes, Bam Aquino and Leila De Lima.

More importantly, Salinlahi commends the more than 600 organizations and individuals that are actively campaigning against the passage of the bill including the member organizations of Salinlahi, UNCHAIN Children, Child Rights Network (CRN), Civil Society Coalition on Convention on the Rights of the Child (CSC-CRC), National Council for Social Development (NCSD), Philippine Action for Youth Offenders (PAYO), UNICEF, among others. We also give thanks to showbiz and media personalities who also joined in the #ChildrenNotCriminals #NotoLoweringMACR campaign such as Catriona Gray, Anne Curtis, Cherry Pie Picache, Pen Medina, Ebe Dancel, and Ryza Cenon.

We also recognize all the individuals especially children who mobilized during the coordinated actions that serve as a platform to sharply register our call. Creative forms of protest were also maximized including candle-lighting, dancing, street and theater plays, songwriting and visual arts.

It’s truly a success in our children’s work advocacy in the Philippines. We’ve learned a lot of lessons that could be replicated in our future campaigns on issues concerning children, specifically the importance of creating linkages and unity between various groups and sectoral organizations, both local and international, in order to deliver a strong message towards the government and policymakers.

The fight for children’s rights and welfare is far from over. We are certain that there will be another attempt in the 18th Congress to lower the MACR, especially with the overwhelming victory of Duterte’s allies in Congress. Therefore there still is a need to sustain the victory we have achieved in this campaign to overcome the challenging period ahead.

The people united will never be defeated! ###

For the Filipino Children,

Salinlahi Alliance For Children’s Concerns

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[In the news] Batas vs corporal punishment sa mga bata, ibinasura ni Duterte -GMA news

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Batas vs corporal punishment sa mga bata, ibinasura ni Duterte

Ibinasura ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa pamamagitan ng kaniyang “veto power” ang ipinasang anti- corporal punishment bill ng Kongreso na nagbabawal na saktan o hiyain ang mga bata bilang parusa.

Sa kaniyang veto message, sinabi ni Duterte na hindi siya lubos na sang-ayon sa panukala bagaman pinuri niya ang hakbang ng mga mambabatas na nagpakita ng pagmamalasakit upang protektahan ang mga bata.

“I am of the firm conviction that responsible parents can and have administered corporal punishment in a self-restrained manner, such that the children remember it not as an act of hate or abuse, but a loving act of discipline that desires only to uphold their welfare,” anang pangulo.

“Such manner of undertaking corporal punishment has given rise to beneficial results for society, with countless children having been raised up to become law-abiding citizens with a healthy respect for authority structures in the wider community,” dagdag niya.

Read full article @www.gmanetwork.com

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[Statement] Tiraniko at sistematikong pagkitil sa kinabukasan ng kabataan ang pagpapababa ng edad sa responsibilidad sa krimen -KAISA-KA

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Tiraniko at sistematikong pagkitil sa kinabukasan ng kabataan ang pagpapababa ng edad sa responsibilidad sa krimen

Mahigpit na kinokondena ng PAGKAKAISA NG KABABAIHAN PARA SA KALAYAAN (KAISA KA) ang galaw ng Mababang Kapulungan na pababain ang edad ng responsibilidad sa krimen sa siyam (9) na taong gulang.

Pangunahing obligasyon ng estado na tiyakin ang maganda, matiwasay at ligtas na kinabukasan ng kabataan sa pamamagitan ng mga batas at patakaran na magbibigay proteksyon sa mismong buhay at dignidad ng mga bata.

Kung kayat itinatakda ng ating Konstitusyon na bigyan ng pangunahing konsiderasyon ang interes ng bata sa lahat at anumang aksyon na may kinalaman sa kanila. At deklaradong polisiya ng estado na bigyang proteksyon at rehabilitasyon ang mga kabataang nasa gitna ng panganib na makaka-apekto sa kanilang kaligtasan at normal na pag-unlad na kanilang buhay at pagkatao.

Subalit nakakagalit na ang mismong mga mambabatas natin ang nanguna sa pagtalikod sa mandatong ito. Nakakagalit na ang ating mambabatas ang nanguna pa sa paglabag sa pinakamataas na batas— ang 1987 Konstitusyon.

Taliwas sa gustong palabasin ng marami nating mambabatas na ang nabanggit na panukalang batas ay pro-life at pro-children; ang katotohanan ay ang kabaligtaran: Ang panukalang batas na ito ay pagyurak sa karapatang-pantao ng mga bata; pagwasak sa buhay nila at pagkitil sa kanilang kinabukasan.

Sa pagpipilit na bigyang-katwiran ang nabanggit na panukalang batas, marami na diumano ang kabataan ang lulong sa droga at krimen , ito daw ay isang paraan para mabawasan ang krimen.

Taliwas ito sa ipinapakita ng datos na 2% lamang ng mga krimeng nangyayari ang kinasasangkutan ng bata. Samantala, napakaraming mga politiko at mga mismong nanunungkulang sa gobyerno ang napatunayang gumawa ng krimen at nagnakaw sa kaban ng bayan—- ni hindi pinarusahan; kahit nakakakulong na’y pinalaya naman.

Ang sabi ni Duiterte, hindi raw nya tatantanan ang mga bata.

Mga bata na lamang ba ang kaya (kinakaya at kinakayan-kayanin) ng Administrasyong Duterte? O mas tama bang sabihin na ang ating Kongreso ngayo’y umaastang malaking “bully” tulad ni Duterte?

Sabi ng mga tagapagsulong ng naturang batas, ginagamit diumano ang bata sa maraming krimen. Imbes na habulin ang mga gumagamit sa mga bata upang syang pananagutin sa batas, ang kakastiguhin ay ang mga bata. Pinupuntirya ang mga walang muwang at hindi ang mga taong nasa hustong edad at isip.

Ang sabi ni Panelo, ang siyam na taong gulang daw ay nasa “age of discernment” at alam na raw ang mali sa tama.

Sa napakaraming pag—aaral kaugnay sa juvenile justice, ipinapakita na ang pag-alam sa tama at mali ay hindi nangangahulugang pag-unawa sa kumplikasyon at implikasyon nito at ang “age of maturity” ay halos nagsisimula pa lamang sa edad 16-18 at nagiging ganap sa edad na 25.

Ito ang dahilan kung bakit kinakailangang nasa 18 and edad bago pumasok sa anupamang kontrata. At ito rin ang dahilan kung bakit sa mabigat na kontrata ng kasal, kailangan pang may “parental consent” sa edad na 18; at “parental advise” sa edad na 23. Bakit sa isang krimen na nakasalang ang buong buhay ay hahayaan nang managot sa edad na na 9?

Kahit pa ang sinasabi ng panukalang batas na “confinement” sa Bahay Pag-asa ay pinagandang salitang nangangahulugan ay pagkakulong at pagpapaliit sa mundong dapat galawan ng bata, pagkait sa kanyang kalayaan at hindi magbibigay nararapat na espasyo para sa lubos na pag-unlad ng kanyang pagkatao.

Sa ganitong kalagayan, maging ang karapatan ng mga bata sa edukasyon ay apektado. Kung sa labas ng kulungan ay hindi sapat ang bilang ng kwarto’t guro sa eskwela, paano pa kaya sa loob ng kulungan? Bakit hindi ang pagtutunan ay ang lubos ang implementasyon ng RA 9344 o Juvenile Justice Law, lalo na ang programa nito para sa rehabilitasyon?

Maliwanag na ang panukalang batas na ito ay pagwasak sa kinabukasan ng bawat bata– pandarahas at pang-aabuso sa kabataaan ng mismong mga nasa kapangyarihan. At ang bawat pandarahas sa bata ay pandarahas sa babaeng nagluwal sa kanya.

Ang panukalang batas na ito ay isang tiraniko at sistematikong hakbang upang gawing legal ang nagaganap nang araw araw at walang-pakundangang pag-atake, paghuli at pagpatay sa maraming kabataan sa ilalim ng Gyera laban sa Droga ni Duterte.

Hindi pa nasasapatan ang administrasyong Duterte sa dami ng bilang ng mga inang nawalan ng anak o mga anak na nawalan ng ina at ama.Hindi pa ito nasapatan na ang kanyang mga pahayag laban sa kababaihan ay nagbibigay-daan sa higit pang pang-aabuso at karahasan sa kababaihan.

Hindi pa ito nasasapatan na naglilikha ng takot, ligalig at pagkaka-watak-watak sa hanay ng mamamayan ang kanyang tiranong paghaharing naka-back up ang mga pinakamalalaki at pinaka kurap na mga trapo na wala ring pag-respeto sa mga demokratikong karapatan ng mamamayan tulad ng mga Marcos at Arroyo.

Nais ni Duterte ang isang kimi at takot na henerasyon syang sinanay nya sa kanyang pahaharing walang paggalang sa batas at proseso. Isang seksyon ng populasyon na tinanggalan nya ng kapasidad na kwestyunin at salungain ang kanyang layon sa higit pang magtamasa ng kapangyarihan lagpas sa ipinahihintulot ng kasalukuyang Konstitusyon. Nais nila na ang tagapangmana ng ating lipunan, ang kabataan ay dungo sa kahirapan at ginawang pipi ng karahasan.

Huwag natin payagan ang malagim na kinabukasan na ito. Kung nakasalang ang interes ng mamamayan, tulad ng ating mga kabataan, walang lugar ang panukalang batas na ito sa isang demokratiko at sibilisadong lipunan.

Higit kailanman, kailangan nating sama-samang kumilos para sa buhay at dignidad ng bawat bata. Lumaban tayo para sa makaatao, demokratiko at soberanong karapatan ng bawat mamayang lumalaban. Ang pakikibakang ito ay para sa ating kinabukasan. Ito ay isang yugto sa nagpapatuloy na pakikibaka para sa kalayaan at demokrasyang bayan

#ragepinay
#resisttyranny
#eskwelahanhindikulungan

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[In the news] UNICEF: Lowering age of criminal liability ‘act of violence against children’ -ABS-CBN news

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UNICEF: Lowering age of criminal liability ‘act of violence against children’

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) opposed Friday fresh calls to lower the age of criminal liability, saying it is an act of violence against children.

“Children in conflict with the law are already victims of circumstance, mostly because of poverty and exploitation by adult crime syndicates,” UNICEF representative to the Philippines Lotta Sylwander said in a statement.

Lawmakers, she said, should instead focus on strengthening the implementation of the law to address juvenile delinquency.

Read full article @news.abs-cbn.com

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[Statement] Against arbitrary arrest of minors under “Oplan Tambay”

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STATEMENT AGAINST ARBITRARY ARREST OF MINORS UNDER “OPLAN TAMBAY”

We, the organisations named below, make this statement to express our serious alarm about the widespread arbitrary arrests of children taking place throughout the Philippines under the ‘Oplan Tambay’ project of the Philippine government.

We note that President Duterte issued a directive that children found loitering be arrested for their protection, even if they have not committed any crime.(1) We further note that in the execution of Oplan Tambay in Cebu Province, minors violating curfew ordinances have been the largest group arrested.(2) We note that in the City of Manila, there is a drive to achieve ‘zero street children’ which is leading to large numbers of children being arbitrarily removed from public spaces.(3)

While we acknowledge that the intention of such policies may be to protect children, there are various reasons why these actions raise serious alarm for us:

1. Criminalization
Ordering police officers or barangay officials to take children into custody puts them into contact with the criminal justice system. This process of criminalising children can have an extremely detrimental effect, impacting on all aspects of their development and ultimately lead to life outcomes that are more negative than their presence on the street may otherwise have led to.

2. Symptomatic Approach
Simply removing children from the street fails to address the symptoms of why they are on the street in the first place. Effective programs should aim to address structural inequalities and push/pull factors that lead children to the street including unemployment, lack of housing, inflation, corruption, domestic violence and inadequate social protection systems.

3. Inadequate Safeguards in Place
There are insufficient safeguards in place to ensure that children taken into custody by law enforcement officials are appropriately protected. This leaves children extremely vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and even trafficking. Officials working directly with children should be adequately trained and supervised. There should be effective and transparent monitoring systems in place as well as independent complaints mechanisms for children and families.

4. Violence and Abuse
Evidence-based data has established that a significant majority of children who are ‘rescued’ from the street in the Philippines experience violence at the hands of their ‘rescuers’ and law enforcement officials.(4) This is also evidenced by media coverage of Oplan Tambay.(5) Children also report serious instances of abuse and violence perpetrated within government shelters. Oplan Tambay has insufficient protections in place to ensure that children are not physically, sexually or emotionally abused during the process of taking them into custody. There are also vastly insufficient resources available to meet the needs of children being taken into custody.

5. Inadequate Facilities
Government facilities used to shelter children who are taken into custody frequently do not meet the minimum legal requirements for shelters, are seriously overcrowded, understaffed and ill-equipped to meet the needs of children.(6) Housing children in shelters that are below standard, even on a short-term basis, risks exposing them to abuse, trauma and neglect.

6. Violates Philippine Laws and Policies
There are various Philippine laws and policies governing how children are to be taken into protective custody.(7) These guidelines were established after it was demonstrated that many ‘rescue’ operations by government officials were involuntary, indiscriminate, harmful and ineffective. The execution of Oplan Tambay does not abide by the guidelines set out in these various policy documents.

7. Violation of Children’s Rights
The Philippines is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and is legally bound to uphold children’s rights, including the right to freedom from arbitrary deprivation of liberty and the right to recovery and social reintegration of victims of neglect, abuse or exploitation.(8) Recognising the discrimination implicit in round-ups of children in street situations, the recent UNCRC General Comment 21 in relation to Children in Street Situations specifically calls on State Parties to ‘abolish any provisions allowing or supporting the round-up or arbitrary removal of children and their families from the streets or public spaces’.(9) The General Comment calls on the Philippine government to implement a rights-based approach to dealing with children in street situations, in which the process is as important as the end result. Moreover, the General Comment 10 on Children’s Rights in Juvenile Justice ‘recommends that the States parties abolish the provisions on status offences’ and further states that ‘behaviour such as vagrancy, roaming the streets or runaways should be dealt with through the implementation of child protective measures, including effective support for parents and/or other caregivers and measures which address the root causes of this behaviour’(10).

Accordingly, we call on the Philippine government to

IMMEDIATELY STOP THE ARBITRARY ARREST OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FROM STREETS AND PUBLIC SPACES.
We further call on the government to:

1. Arrange the immediate release of any children held in custody without prior authority or in conditions that pose a threat to their health, safety or wellbeing.

2. Establish an independent complaints mechanism to allow children or their families or legal guardians to raise concerns about their custody.

3. Require that all facilities, government and non-government, that are sheltering children meet the minimum standards for Department of Social Welfare and Development’s accreditation.

4. Hasten the re-establishment of the National Network for Street Children and the development of a National Plan of Action for Children in Street Situations.

SIGNED on this 3rd day of July 2018 by:
Action for the Care and Development of the Poor in the Philippines (ACAP)
Amaya Lay in Mindanao Inc (ALAY)
Ateneo de Davao Legal Aid
Bahay Tuluyan Foundation Inc
Child Alert Mindanao
CHILDInitiative
Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC)
Coalition Against Summary Execution (CASE)
Gitib Incorporated
In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND)
KALITAWHAN Network
Katilingban Para sa Kalambuan Inc (KKI)
National Council for Social Development
Network Against Killings in the Philippines (NAKPhil)
PETA ARTS Zone Project
Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)
Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights)
Pinag-Isang Lakas ng Kabataan (PILAK)
Rise up for Life and For Rights
Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns
Tambayan Center for Children’s Rights Inc
For further information, please contact Bahay Tuluyan at info@bahaytuluyan.org or (02) 353 2350.

Source: philrights.org

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Facebook: @HumanRightsPhilippines
Twitter: @PhilRights

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[Statement] We remain steadfast in protecting children’s rights; we resist any vilification of women and children; we condemn the further killings -CLRD

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Statement on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2018

Today is international women’s day. Women must be celebrated and honored. But how in this precarious time, where our civil and political rights are in constant danger, do we commemorate this symbolic day? In the past few months, many lives were taken – women and children included, caught int he crossfire of the unrelenting drug war.

Many of our children are left without their mothers, sisters, aunts and grandmothers. they were traumatized and continue to suffer the feeling of wanting and longing for their loved ones.

As we grieve with the children who have lost the women figure in their lives, we, at Children’s Legal Rights and Development Center (CLRDC), likewise stand in solidarity with all the women who have lost their loved ones, especially their children.

We remain steadfast in protecting children’s rights; we resist any vilification of women and children; we condemn the further killings.

We call for a fair and just society where the human dignity of everyone are respected, especially the rights of those who are the most vulnerable among us.

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Website: http://www.clrdc.wordpress.com
Facebook: @ChildrensLegalRights
Twitter: @CLRDC

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[People] Jailing the Child Abusers -by Fr. Shay Cullen

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Jailing the Child Abusers
by Fr. Shay Cullen
16 February 2018

When put on trial in Pasay City, Metro Manila, child sex abusers can expect a conviction and a sentence of harsh life in prison without parole from Judge Tingaraan Guiling of Pasay City if the evidence warrants it. This week on 12 February, a just decision based on the evidence was promulgated against Roque Galve for the aggravated sexual assault and rape of a minor, call her Rose. The judge is commended for doing justice for the abused child and many more like her.

Galve is the live-in partner of the mother of Rose and he took advantage of the child being mentally challenged. Her mother did not protect the child and sided with the abuser. He sexually assaulted Rose by inserting his fingers into the child. The psychologist testified that Rose was capable of telling exactly what had happened to her and she did. Her younger sister saw the abuse happening and testified also. Medical evidence supported the child’s testimony and a neighbor who heard the child cry out looked into the room and saw the abuse happen. He also testified.

Galve was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of raping the child and was convicted under the Child Protection Law otherwise known as Republic Act 7610 and the Anti-Rape Law otherwise known as Republic Act 8353 and ordered to pay 75,000 pesos as civil indemnity, 75,000 pesos as moral damages and 50,000 pesos as exemplary damages. That’s what awaits the child rapists and their supporters and enablers when justice catches up with them. We will continue to see that it does.

Rose is safe and protected at the Preda children’s home forty minutes drive from here in the Preda main office in Olongapo City and is recovering and growing in self-confidence and is much stronger than ever before. She had her Emotional Expression Therapy and cried out all the emotional pain she’s suffering. She shouted at her abuser and unburdened herself of the stress and hurt that weighed her down. She is now happy, playing and learning every day. A success story for sure.

This is just one of thousands of cases that are pending in the courts and many perpetrators go unpunished because they hide away when there is an arrest warrant against them.

The record of the Philippine National Police in finding and arresting them is dismal. However, sometimes the suspects come back to the scene of their crime and with a tip off, Preda social workers can show the arrest warrant and bring the police to where they are and have them arrested. Then the trial can proceed.

We win only about four or five convictions a year although we have about 35 cases against child sexual abusers pending in the courts. The Philippine constitution allows for them to have due process of law but they can be tried in absencia if they have been arraigned and then fail to appear to answer the charges in court.

However, most of the accused suspects in child abuse cases flee before the arraignment. They must be caught and brought to court and held accountable. Seeking justice is an important part of healing for the victims and survivors of sexual abuse.

There are hundreds of thousands of survivors who have never been able to speak out about being raped and abused although these days the #MeToo movement is giving a platform for women of all ages to speak out about their terrible experience of being abused or sexually harassed. Children too must be encouraged to speak out without fear or intimidation.

In the Philippines, bringing a criminal charge is not very difficult or expensive. The public prosecutor will fight the case for the abused children and the good dedicated prosecutors will get convictions.

A German national, Konrad Weber, was put on trial in Gingoog City and with a committed prosecutor and a just judge that could not be bribed, Weber was found guilty of child abuse. He sexually abused several small boys. He received a sentence of life in prison. He is now on trial again for other acts of sexual abuse of other small boys. He allegedly abused them in Butuan City some years ago.

Preda Foundation has helped and supported the boys who are all from very poor families. They too told their stories to social workers and justice was done. Young people need encouragement and support to tell their stories of abuse. When everyone has the ability and courage to speak out and report abuse and support victims then this scourge of woman and child abuse will be greatly diminished.

It is known that one child in every four children suffer sexual abuse worldwide. This is a shocking statistics, a reality that we cannot forget or ignore. We must be aware that child sexual abuse is a common practice that cannot be ignored by apathy and indifference. Caring adults ought to be sensitive and aware that a disturbed child may have a story of abuse to tell and they should listen with sympathy and understanding.

Fighting for justice for children and with children is just part of our work besides helping rescue abused children from human traffickers and abusers and bringing them to justice. In the meantime the child is protected and safe in the Preda home for girls. Children everywhere need you to be their helper and defender.

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Facebook: @preda.for.child.rights
Email:predainfo@preda.org

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[Video] Hayaan Mo Ako -Lapis

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PANAWAGAN NG PAKIKIISA SA LAHAT NG MGA KASAMA SA PAGTUTOL SA KARAHASAN
Inilunsad ang music video na “Hayaan Mo ako”, isang partnership project of Lapis, PAHRA at iDEFEND. Ang music video ay patungkol sa mga batang hindi na hinayaang lumaki at mamuhay ng malaya at may dignidad dahil naging biktima ng EJK. Nilalayon po natin ang malawakang pagpapalaganap nito.

Mga Dapat gawin:

1) Download video using “keepvid.com”: https://youtu.be/CdGw-x90PAI

2) Upload to all your social media accounts (fb, instagram, twitter, blogs and websites)

3) I-share sa ating mga friends sa social media

4) Gamitin ang hashtag #HayaanMoAko, #Lapis , #iDEFEND , #PAHRA

Or pwede nyo rin ishare itong link https://youtu.be/CdGw-x90PAI ng parehong petsa at oras

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[People] A Registry and Ban on Travelling Pedophiles by Law -by Fr. Shay Cullen

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A Registry and Ban on Travelling Pedophiles by Law
12 October 2017
Shay Cullen

Jerry Aspinio is a 13-year-old boy who was full of wonder and curiosity at the world as he grew up in Angeles City, Philippines. Although that is not his real name, imagine what he found when one day with some of his classmates his age he left the school and heard a man call to them from a house balcony just outside the school gate, “Come on over, here are some candies.” The large overweight white male from the UK called to them as he threw a handful of candies to the boys passing below.

The kids rushed to get them, laughing and pushing and shoving. The man was soon beside them inviting them inside to play video games and watch TV on a huge screen. These were wonders to the poor boys who could not afford a movie ticket or play a video game. They ate and drank soft drinks and soon he had them sitting on his lap.

The pedophile showed them videos of sexual acts that he pressured them to do to him for money. DS, almost 70 years old then, abused Jerry and the other boys. He was facing child sexual abuse charges in the UK some years previously and fled to the Philippines. He set up a profitable business here and was charged several times with the sexual abuse of minors. The charges were dropped when he paid bribes to the corrupt officials. But a few years ago, he was extradited to the UK to face the child abuse charges there and was convicted and sentenced to 24 years in jail.

If there was a law that allowed his passport be cancelled when he was first charged, he would not have escaped and would have remained in the UK and faced justice. His conviction would put him on the register of convicted pedophiles and watched after sentence was served. He would not have been able to travel and abuse Filipino children.

We need a strong law cancelling the passports of convicted child sex offenders. Thousands of men from rich countries charged with crimes against children and many convicted of child rape travel to poor countries where the law enforcement is lax and they easily abuse and rape children with impunity.

The defenders of children are promoting such a new law in Ireland and the UK and eventually in the EU. Ireland is already taking the lead in this led by TD Maureen O’Sullivan supported by TD Sean Barrett and other concerned members of the parliament and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee who believe firmly it can be done given the political will of the Irish Dail. For this they were elected and they are committed to protect children wherever they are vulnerable and exposed to traveling child sex offenders.

Unlike other countries Ireland does not have a registry of child sexual offenders but it should have and this ought to be included in the new law. Also the law ought to provide that a Garda section be formed to monitor and watch these convicted pedophiles listed on the registry and that they report frequently to the Garda station as is the practice in other countries. Any convicted pedophile that may elude the watch list ought to be reported to Interpol and Europol.

The debate on such a proposed law will be about the constitutional rights of convicted pedophiles to travel and the rights to protect vulnerable children from rape and abuse. In the balance, the new law should come down on the side of the rights of the children. They are the weakest and most prone and vulnerable.

While there is no precedent in Irish law to allow this, there is in the UK where suspected football hooligans are banned from travelling to certain football matches. They are just suspects of a possible crime, not even convicted, yet the law allowed them to be banned. Besides, citizens or residents of the UK also suspected of planning to travel to a Middle Eastern country to engage with Jihadists can have their passports held.

The European Court of Human Rights has not ruled against it and human rights groups have not protested this practice. To cancel a passport or deny one to an Irish citizen for just cause is legal, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. It does not mean that their citizenship or nationality is revoked. It means as an Irish or a UK citizen for that matter, due to their previous conviction, they cannot travel abroad.

The new law in Ireland and the UK must favor the greater good that protects children from abuse against the rights of a convicted pedophile to travel. Besides, the Australian parliament has passed such a law and it has not been challenged as violating any constitutional right of a convicted pedophile.

While good and honest human rights activists and civil libertarians may indeed challenge such a law, there will be secret opposition from the pedophiles hidden but lurking at all levels in society that will find behind-the-scenes ways to block such a law. We have to accept the truth that there are thousands of secret child abusers hidden in the fabric of society. Statistics says one child in every four in Ireland has suffered abuse (info@ oneinfour.ie). The Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) also has shocking statistics and shows a conspiracy of silence in society denying or covering up child sexual abuse. Pedophile networks are everywhere as seen by the discovery of thousands of pedophiles linked together sharing images of children being sexually abused on-line.

We need a strong clear sustainable law that creates a registry of convicted child sexual offenders and mandates judges to severely restrict or ban outright a convicted child sexual offender for travelling abroad.

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[People] The Killing of Children -by Fr. Shay Cullen

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The Killing of Children
by Fr. Shay Cullen

The President is having a very successful campaign against suspected drug dealers and drug users. The killing of a 17-year old Grade 11 student, Kian Loyd delos Santos, by police in an anti-drug operation last week during which as many as 94 people were shot dead by police was just one too many. The police claim that all the dead, including the boy, resisted arrest and fought back. However, witnesses and CCTV footage of the incident show that the boy was dragged and shot dead.

Whatever the truth of it is, the evidence that these 94 people were all drug dealers and had resisted arrest is woefully lacking. Many in the Philippines are shocked at the news that as many as 31 minors have been shot dead during the past twelve months of the President’s war-on-drugs. The tough-talking and feared President strengthened his determination to pursue the war-on-drugs and said that it would continue relentlessly and warned drug pushers that they will face “either jail or hell.” “Illegal drugs are the root cause of much evil and so much suffering that weaken the social fabric and deters foreign investment from pouring in,” he said.

Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David spoke out against it and condemned the killing of Kian Loyd Delos Santos. “This is one very specific case where an innocent individual, who happens to be just a boy, a Grade 11 student, you snuff out the future of a child,” David said in a phone interview with Rappler on Friday, August 18. “That really crushes my heart as bishop. I cannot possibly keep quiet about this,” said David, the incoming vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). He is one of the most outspoken bishops against the extrajudicial killings (EJKs).

The targeting of children is not unusual. The authorities look down upon them. The move by the authorities to change the juvenile justice and welfare law and reduce the minimum age of criminal liability to nine years old is still pending in the congress. In a speech to the Boy Scouts, the President said children in conflict with the law have criminals minds.

Without evidence against the suspects, they are listed by local officials and are judged guilty and arrested, jailed or even executed. The President praised the big “success” of the operation. The rule of law and due process is ignored and for many Filipinos of conscience, it is extrajudicial killing. The police vigorously deny it. Some commentators say that as many as ten thousand suspects have died in the war on drugs killed by police and vigilantes. The vigilantes, some say, are police in disguise and they are paid a bonus for every killing. This cannot be confirmed. The owners of the funeral parlors where the bodies are brought pay the police to bring them more bodies, some reports say. The families of the victims have to borrow heavily to pay for the expensive funeral. A report by Reuters last June 29 revealed that some police bring the dead bodies to hospitals as part of a cover up.

The amazing thing is that for a so-called Catholic country that is the Philippines, surveys say the tough talking president has approval ratings as high as 80 percent of those polled. Some say many Filipinos give approval in a survey out of fear. The president who apparently enjoys wide popularity said he would kill human rights advocates too to show them what human rights violations were. Later his communications officials said he didn’t mean it.

In the Archdiocese of Dagupan, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, former head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, ordered that the church bells in his diocese be rung for 15 minutes every day for three months to protest the killings. This is needed, he said, to arouse the people who have become “cowards in expressing anger against evil.”

“The sounding of the bells is a call to stop approval of the killings,” Villegas said in a statement read last week in churches in his archdiocese in Pangasinan province. “The country is in chaos. The officer who kills is rewarded and the slain get the blame. The corpses could no longer defend themselves from accusations that they ‘fought back,’” he said. “Why are we no longer horrified by the sound of the gun and blood flowing on the sidewalks? Why is nobody raging against drugs that were brought in from China?” Villegas asked, referring to a huge drugs shipment that managed to pass through Manila’s ports under the watch of customs officials appointed by Duterte.

And so it is that the voices of the outspoken, vocal bishops are being heard. In Caloocan City, Bishop David organized walk for peace. In the Archdiocese of Manila, Archbishop Cardinal Tagle issued a pastoral letter that did not condemn the killings but said “We knock on the consciences of those who kill even the helpless, especially those who cover their faces with bonnets, to stop wasting human lives.”

This is a time for people of conscience to know and speak the truth, to be prophetic, to proclaim the value of every life, to stand for the truth, justice, human dignity, due process and the rule of law so that all people will be protected and safe from home invasion and the arbitrary killing of innocent people.

shaycullen@gmail.com
http://www.preda.org

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