If Proposed Laws Are Passed, Nine-year Old Children Could be Hanged

by Fr Shay Cullen

Preda Boys Home

A few weeks ago, the Philippine nation and the world that cares for children’s rights and human dignity learned that the new speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress has filed two proposed laws that will lower the age of criminal liability for children in conflict with the law to nine years old and reintroduce the death penalty by hanging.

This is draconian and oppressive for children and not worthy of the Duterte administration and the Philippine people. The children are innocent, most are illiterate, abandoned, neglected and failed by society and government. The children younger than 15 are being used by criminals to commit crimes because they cannot be prosecuted, proponents of the law say. This is baloney.

If it is true that they are being used (there is no research data or evidence to support it), the children are controlled, used and exploited by criminals and cannot act with free will or be held liable for wrongdoing. So, what’s the point of criminalizing them? The children are scapegoats of uncaring authorities and an indifferent society.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council, has strongly opposed such a move to criminalize children and the civil society is also adamantly against it.

The Catholic Church has strongly spoken against the death penalty and we wait for a statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to support the retention of the 15-years-old age of liability for children. It is very wrong to blame children for the crimes of adults.

Full post here.

The Good News is That Justice Has Been Done

by Fr Shay Cullen

Preda Boys Home

The serial child sexual abuser Douglas Slade from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire was sentenced to 24 years in jail after he was extradited back to the UK and faced sexual abuse charges.

He was charged in court in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines several times for abuse of children in his luxurious child sex den but was able to bribe his way out of all the charges allegedly with the help of corrupt police, court officials and bent lawyers. Slade admitted in an interview with a UK television channel that he paid lawyers to “fix” the cases.

Preda Foundation social workers and paralegal officers assisted the victims and are legal guardians for some of them with power of attorney. Slade has abused as many as 33 children living within half a kilometer of his house, which he built next to an elementary school and had a gate leading to the playground. He allegedly gave gifts to the school principal to allow the boys to come in his house where he abused them.

The Preda Foundation is working to file civil action cases in the UK against Slade to demand compensation for the degrading and human suffering and psychological damage that the children endure.

One boy reported, as reported by Simon Perry in his report in the Mail Online, that Slade threatened him and other victims with a gun if they or their parents told the police about the sexual abuse. Slade kept a firearm in his house. According to the report, Slade had video cameras fitted to the wall in both the living room and the bedroom. He would film his abuse and told Christian and the other boys he was selling the footage to friends over the Internet. “Mr. Douglas told us to do things to him and he told us we had to do it right as he told us to because it was all going on video,’ he said.

When Slade’s computer broke down, he called in a technician to repair it. This technician saw the pictures of sexual abuse, knew it was indicative of a crime and reported it to police. He made copies so the police would have evidence to get a search warrant. The police raided the home with a search warrant and got the original material in a legal manner. However, in the Angeles City Court, Slade’s lawyers were able to say that the original procurement of the video were illegal and despite the evidence that the police got the same evidence legally, the case was dismissed despite the powerful evidence of the child rape themselves.

It was at this stage that the Preda director in conversation with visiting UK child protection officials brought the case of Slade to their attention. Soon, historic cases in the UK were revived with their help and the help of media and Slade was extradited.

Full post here.

Fr Shay Cullen and friends, Preda Boys Home

The Child Prisoners of Philippine Jails

by Fr Shay Cullen

The recent conviction of notorious British Douglas Slade in the United Kingdom (UK) for multiple acts of sex abuse against children is a historic and significant development. It is rare that British pedophiles are successfully extradited from the Philippines.

He fled to the Philippines to escape justice in Britain several years ago and he allegedly preyed on many young boys here in the Philippines. The Preda Foundation social workers and paralegal officers rescued several victims and brought legal charges against Slade in Philippine courts and pursued justice for them. Soon we will take civil court action in the UK to get justice for the Filipino children he allegedly abused.

In the Philippines he was allegedly able to bribe his way out of these cases. He was video-recorded telling a journalist how he was able to bribe his way and have the cases dismissed.
This is real crime to the eternal shame of irresponsible and corrupt lawyers, prosecutors and judges. Despite strong evidence, including the testimony of the victims, the cases were dismissed and he allegedly carried on abusing more children. More cases were filed and dismissed. The corrupt officials who allowed it should answer to the nation and God.

Full post here.

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The Daily Telegraph (London) reported on 1 July that Douglas Slade (75) has been sentenced in England to 24 years in jail.

MailOnline (London) published a background story on 1 January 2015.

The Just Judge Saves the Innocent

by Fr Shay Cullen

The Judgment of Solomon, Nicolas Poussin, 1649

Musée du Louvre, Paris [Web Gallery of Art]

The Philippines is moving away from an era of compassion and justice to one where the innocent are targets for assassination and wrongful imprisonment on false charges. In recent weeks dozens of bodies have been found shot dead with signs pinned on the bodies, declaring them criminals deserving of death. But there was no trial, no justice. The killers have contempt for the process of justice.

Street children are sometimes set up by dru- pushers as delivery boys and are arrested and criminalized. They might be shot, too. Journalists have been declared by some high officials to be deserving of assassination. Travelers both Filipinos and foreigners have been set up with bullets and cannabis planted in their bags at Philippine airports. Unless they pay bribes on the spot, they will be charged with a crime. Now you see travelers having their bags totally wrapped in cling-plastic before checking in.

Some corrupt police and officials have no respect for the system of justice and treat it with contempt. When they frame up someone with a false charge, the good judge of integrity proves them wrong and the victim is declared innocent. The judge of integrity thwarts the corrupt with true justice and the rule of law.

One foreign visitor in Olongapo, call him Frank, was allegedly set up by a police captain who stole his expensive camera. When he demanded it back and asked for justice, he was charged by the police with child abuse and jailed without bail. He would never pay anything to have the charges dropped as he believes he is innocent. He has hope in the system of justice and is fighting for his freedom. He suffers greatly and has a rare form of diabetes and needs special insulin only available in Europe. He will surely die if he does not get it and supplies are running out.

Full post here.

Helping the New President Fight Crime

By Fr Shay Cullen

Preda HandiCrafts

There is a wise saying, ‘Be careful of what you promise. People might believe it.’

By June 30 the Philippines will have sworn in a new president, Rodrigo Duterte – famous for his somewhat exaggerated style of speaking and for making election promises to eradicate crime and corruption in three to six months after his inauguration.

He could still make a strong impact in reducing crime and start to fulfill his promises with smart lawful executive orders and legislation and by stopping killings by death squads and vigilantes. He can stop officials paying bonuses to rogue police for killing mere suspects. That’s a license to violate human rights and kill with impunity. It’s not worthy of a people as great as Filipinos, who have suffered from weak and corrupt leadership in the past.

Those who understand how deep the roots of crime and corruption are in the Philippines will know that the well-meaning candidate, now President-elect Rodrigo Duterte – made promises as the basis of his presidency that are almost impossible to fulfill. But the impossible may still be possible.

Many people have taken these promises seriously and they will be expecting results. We have to help the new president succeed in fighting corruption and criminality within the law. The killing of suspects is not the way. That will bring down international condemnation and shame and the Philippines will be the pariah of the civilized world. The Secretary General of the United Nations has spoken against Philippine death squads killing journalists already. If the vigilantes have their way, the presidency will be gravely affected and branded as a killer regime and violator of human rights. Filipinos will lose respect wherever they are in the world. That must not happen. We must help the president succeed by implementing the strict rule of law.

Full post here.

Behind the Drug Culture is Child Neglect

by Fr Shay Cullen

St James, Andrea del Sarto, 1528-29

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy [Web Gallery of Art]

A society without respect for and openness to accepting and listening to children and young people is like a land without water – everything dies.

Parents, relatives and enlightened community leaders are increasingly alarmed and shocked by the spread and common availability of personality- and mind-altering dangerous drugs. With the ‘internet-of-everything’ connecting everybody on smart phones, tablets, laptops and even eyeglasses, young people are exposed to a bombardment of influences more powerful, compelling and dangerous than ever before.

The role-model they see before them when entering adolescence has the greatest influence on their lives and self-image. The most important is the loving, caring parent who teaches by good actions as much as by positive words.

Young persons can be inspired and become a socially-involved and active youth helping others if listened to, involved in the life of the family, have good parents or brothers and sisters they can admire and imitate.

As busy parents get more involved with themselves and forget their children’s needs for friendship and companionship and leave them to themselves, then they could lose their child. Hundreds of thousands of children are running away from home and from unloving and abusive parents, more than ever before.

Full post here.

The Criminals Behind the Drug Mafia

Fr Shay Cullen

Maria Rae was just 13 years old when she began to have a conflict with her aunt. She came from a broken home. She was abandoned when her parents split up. This is the great injustice and hardship suffered by the children of couples who come together without lasting love. They are driven more by impulse, have an unwanted child and then part ways and the child is abandoned.

So it happened that Maria Rae was left with her aunt who had children of her own and she was not cared for or loved. Maria Rae was a Cinderella kid. She was made to do the household chores but was not accepted by the family.

To find friendship, she wandered around the neighborhood in a town south of Manila looking for friends. She had dropped out of school when her parents separated. She lost the desire to learn and felt her life was already over and pointless. She was lonely and vulnerable. She was befriended by an adult man whom she called ‘Dada’.

He soon gave her money and gifts and she came to think Dada was the only person in the whole world that loved her. It was not love but grooming for abuse. He raped her and she had nowhere to run, no one to talk to and afraid to ask help.

He gave her pills, drugs of some kind. He then invited his friends to abuse her also. She was brought to hotels and sold for sex to the customers that Dada had lined up. They were drug users. The pedophiles love to get high on drugs while abusing children.

When her auntie learned that Maria Rae was being prostituted, she demanded a share of the payment. Dada refused and the aunt filed criminal charges for human trafficking against him. He was the local drug pusher, too, it seems as the sex industry is run on drugs. These drug dens of iniquity and abuse are fronts for drug trafficking and dealing. They control the young girls by getting them dependent on drugs.

Full post on Preda website.

 

The Destructive Trade in Dangerous Drugs

By Fr Shay Cullen

Opium poppies, Afghanistan, a major source of drugs [Wikipedia]

Young people by the thousands are dropping dead by consuming chemicals into their bodies to forget their problems or just to get an exciting high and overcome inhibition. A few weeks ago in an open air dance concert in Manila, another five people collapsed in the outdoor dance area and died on the spot or later in hospital from presumed drug overdose. Ecstasy and a powerful variety of marijuana and crystal meth are easily available. These young people were seemingly victims of the drug culture. What a tragic loss of young lives and pain and suffering for their family and friends. They could be your children or grandchildren, nephews or nieces- all are targets of the drug pushers and dealers. We cannot stand idly by wringing our hands helplessly. We must act and campaign for a drug-free society, not a society that tolerates, ignores, or as in some Northern hemisphere countries legalizes dangerous drugs.

Murdering drug pushers or denouncing them without evidence or a trial or accusing them before TV cameras is wrong. It is a violation of their rights. In that system anyone can accuse you or me and we could be shot without due process.

Any person accused is entitled by law to due process and a fair trial. Vigilante killing of suspects without a trial is not a solution, it is murder. More pushers, drug lords and dealers will take their place, who would they be? If they are politicians with hit squads who kill suspects they are no saints and can easily take over the drug business and remain in power forever. Goodbye democracy, here come the goons.

It is only by having a high value of our lives and health of our children and all our citizens and teaching our children by good example to be drug and alcohol-free and eat healthy food will they have a healthy, productive meaningful life. The drug users did not have these values and are victims. They need recovery, therapy and rehabilitation.

Full post here.

Political Power and Sexism
Fr Shay Cullen

Fr Shay Cullen with promoters of Preda Fair Trade

Fury, anger and outspoken protest was registered by a group of French women politicians in France demanding an end to the sexual harassment and sexism among male politicians and government officials which they themselves were subjected to.

They directed their sharp criticism at an enduring attitude and what could be described as male political entitlement to sexually harass female politicians and journalists.

A few weeks ago, they stood outside the French parliament with placards and megaphones and riot police on standby demanding a stop to the daily practice of male politicians – their colleagues – physically touching, groping, harassing them with sexist talk and in some cases, sexual assault by the male politicians.

But that is not all. Last 2015, a group of female journalists spoke out in public demanding the same respect for their status, dignity and rights. Many have come out openly describing they were sexually assaulted by male colleagues.

Full post here.