There is extreme poverty in the world, 1% of rich people have more money and wealth than the combined wealth of 4.6 billion people who have almost nothing. Worldwide there are about 735 million people in extreme poverty. In the Philippine, there are an estimated 6 million people in extreme poverty. Why is there so…
As I write this, monster typhoon Kammuri is ravaging the Bicol region in central Philippines. It is packing winds at 209 kilometers per hour (130 mph) and it is more ferocious than the previous typhoons to hit that part of this nation’s archipelago. Tidal surges are wrecking houses and the wind is ripping away and…
It’s a case of child abuse and human trafficking that has caught much media attention. It is being held in the court of Honorable Judge Maria Angelica T. Paras-Quiambao, Regional Trial Court Branch 59, Angeles City, a judge of known integrity. It concerns a US national, John R. He is accused of sexually abusing two…
Children are Treated as Criminals Fr. Shay Cullen 25 January 2019 The lower chamber of the Philippine Congress is going to approve the lowering of the minimum age of criminal liability of a child from the present 15 years-of-age to 12-years-of-age. They really want to reduce it to 9 but public outcry forced the politicians…
The Challenge to Protect Children in 2019 by Fr. Shay Cullen The world in 2019 has to wake up to the prevalence of child sexual abuse and everyone has to act more decisively about it. Parents, politicians and citizens must be aware that this is a horrendous crime and all must do much more to…
Convictions Bring Justice for Abused Children Fr. Shay Cullen Hundreds of children are sexually abused daily in the Philippines and millions are abused around the world. Strict justice is needed and an unrelenting crackdown on child abusers is what is needed to protect children from sexual abuse. More Filipino child abusers are being convicted than…
The Man Who Said, “You Shall not Kill” Fr. Shay Cullen He was born the son of poor farm workers and he grew up hungry and deprived and he was like the millions of poor who don’t know the root causes of their rural poverty. The poor struggle to overcome those sufferings and hardships as…
The Migrants that seek a welcome by Fr. Shay Cullen Let us look at ourselves as human beings with dignity, values, and inalienable human rights. We are persons not like the animals that see enemies and rivals all around them in the wild and they fight and kill for food and survival. Most humans have…
Those Fighting and Dying for Filipino Freedoms by Fr. Shay Cullen What is independence but the freedom from the domination and control of others? Freedom is firstly an inner, non-material spiritual value. The desire for it is a natural right and when achieved, it is a joyful experience. The freedom to practice our religious beliefs…
The Bright and the Dark Internet by Fr. Shay Cullen We all love being connected to the internet and it is a wonderful technology for communicating, providing information and entertainment and keeping people connected. Commerce and business is totally dependent on it what with e-mail, conferencing, communication, document transmission in which it is essential and…
Church Leaders Condemn Killing of Young Priest by Fr. Shay Cullen 4 May 2018 Catholic church leaders have spoken out to condemn the brutal killing of a young priest, Father Mark Anthony Ventura, 37, from Gattaran town in the province of Cagayan last Sunday, 29 April 2018. Father Mark was shot by an assassin at…
The Planet is our Home by Fr. Shay Cullen April 5, 2018 It surrounds us, It is in every place we go, on the street, on the beach or the woods. We see it when we climb a mountain or go for a swim. It is there, evidence of our willful neglect or ingenious inventiveness.…
The Resurrection of Jessica by Fr. Shay Cullen 29 March 2018 Jessica was a lost child wandering the streets of a Philippine city, picked up by a human trafficker and brought to different places where she was sold as a commodity to foreign sex tourists to be abused. She didn’t know what was happening to…
The Profile of a Dictator by Fr. Shay Cullen 15 March 2018 History is full of tyrants and dictators. Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Mao Ze Dong are among the worst in past history but today dictatorship is increasingly on the rise. True democracy is in retreat as elected officials turn to dictatorship as a way to…
A Victory for Children’s Rights by Fr. Shay Cullen 9 March 2018 After a French court acquitted a 30-year old man of child rape after he had sexual relations with an 11-year old, the public was outraged and rightly so. The judge ruled that unless it could be proven that he had used force or…
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…
Philippine Democracy under threat by Fr. Shay Cullen February 9, 2018 The young man, Jake 22 year old and single laughed when I asked him whom he voted for in the local elections for mayor. He said he abstained, but he went to the house of the mayor and received a payment all the same.…
A Big Victory for Exploited Children by Fr. Shay Cullen 25 January 2018 He was convicted after almost four and a half years of trial. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges and got off lightly with time served. He is Mr. AB, a US national convicted in an Olongapo Court recently of child trafficking and…
Journalists risk death for the truth by Fr. Shay Cullen 18 January 2018 Journalists, writers, reporters, commentators will just have to curb their passion for speaking and exposing the truth if they want to continue to live. Too many end up a corpse in a cold dark morgue, silence their only companion. That is just…
The Voice of Women Say, “Time’s Up!” by Fr. Shay Cullen 4 January 2018 It is a great beginning to the New Year. Prominent women and men in Hollywood and London have launched a movement to end sexual harassment in the workplace and society. They aim to challenge every act of sexual harassment and abuse…
