PROPHET OF HOPE (Justice and Peace, pp. 8-11)

PROPHET OF HOPE (Justice and Peace, pp. 8-11)
World Mission, Korea
by Fr. Alvaro, IMC
 
One of the most striking interviews I did during my visit to the Philippines was with Fr. Shay Cullen. He is from Ireland and has devoted most of his missionary work to rescuing children from sex trafficking and abuse. Due to his relentless efforts in protecting children and seeking the proper punishment for those involved in this trade, he is both loved and hated by many. Here is his story.

Putting the Gospel into practice
Fr. Shay Cullen arrived in the Philippines in 1969. He belongs to the Missionaries of St. Columban and was assigned to Saint Joseph's parish in Olongapo, the city where he still works at the moment, which is famous for the Subic Bay. At the time of his arrival, there was a huge American naval base, because of the Vietnam War, with thousands of sailors and marines, as well as many sex tourists. The whole town, in fact, was like one big brothel. Walking along the streets, he immediately became aware that many children were victims of sexual abuse. He saw little children being sold on the streets, with their pimps by their side. When people saw Fr. Shay walking around, they thought he was either a sailor or a tourist and some offered him children for sex.

He soon realized all the social problems of the parish, because there are many other issues linked to sex trade, such as poverty, lack of access to education, domestic violence, among others. He was also astonished by the contradiction between life within the church boundaries and what was going on outside. In other words, he felt the Church had to be more involved in the life of the people and not only worry about celebrating sacraments.

The youngest victims of sex trade were 9 years old and, little by little, he and other colleagues began exposing these social evils in the media.  But this was not enough: he knew something more practical had to be done in order to help and protect the victims. So, in 1974 he began the 'PREDA Foundation'. "PREDA" means Prevention, Recovery, Empowerment, Development and Assistance. The aim is to help poor in general and sex trade victims in particular in recovering from their suffering, assisting them with the basic forms of help in order for them to regain their human dignity. One form of help is to provide the local communities with forms of organization which will empower them.


As for development, this foundation began a program of fair trade, producing also products which are traded in a fair manner. The foundation also has scholarship programs, precisely because education is one of the best ways to prevent children from falling into human and sex trafficking. Other programs include disaster relief assistance, selling local products abroad, etc.

Working for and with the local people
Fr. Shay began this project with the assistance of some native people. They started by forming a small community composed of street youth and some others who had been in jail. In fact, the inhumane situation of children in jails became a priority for them. They managed to force the government create a law which forbids children under 15 to be put in jail with adults. The martial law regime gave birth to death squads, which killed all those who opposed the regime, including youngsters and children. Even nowadays there is the belief among some within the police force that many kids are a social disease and, therefore, must be eliminated. In fact, the PREDA foundation also shelters some youngsters who fear for their life.

So, in order to help and protect these children, the foundation built the "Home for Boys", which is the place I visited. Because many come and go, in a year there is an average of 30 to 35 children staying at the home, while the number of girls is around 50. Because in the beginning there was no money, they began the fair trade movement with handcraft done by the out-of-school youth of legal age; Fr. Shay would then sell the products in local markets to earn money to feed and educate the children, as well as to pay his staff: at the moment, there are 82 staff, including therapists and social workers.

The foundation also taught some skills to the kids so that they could later earn their own money and live a decent and happier life. From 1974 to 1989 the foundation was self-sufficient. Later, many organizations began helping the foundation, both economically and with volunteers. Even after the children leave the home, many still maintain contact with the foundation, because the foundation follows them for two years after they left.

In order to go deeper into the roots of the problem, the foundation began denouncing the military bases during the 1980's. At the time, FR. Shay began saying: "we have to be prophetic in our mission, we must take a stand on these issues and if we don't challenge the root causes of the exploitation of women and children and poverty and other issues, the problems will remain. There must be something better: the military bases should be converted into economic zones." All they wanted was more work for the local communities.

This campaign reached more strength when the anti-nuclear campaigners joined them, while Church leaders were also getting involved. FR. Shay went on a tour trying to gain support for the closure of the military bases. Later, President Cory Aquino took a stand on this issue, who signed the exit notice for the American forces. The foundation went further ahead: it made a case against the American government for all the children fathered by its soldiers who had been abandoned.

The US government responded saying the children were not legally American their mothers were prostitutes. But at least the foundation didn't keep quite Some of these children became staff at the foundation. In 1992, the eruption of volcano Pinatubo destroyed all the installations of the foundation. After rebuilding, the foundation began the "Home for Girls"; after the base closed down, the mafia of the sex trade came in. So, the problem became a bigger one. Some Americans supported the foundation, as well as other institutions around the world.

Despite the corruptive system linked to Subic Bay, the foundation never gave up its active role. Foreign investment (including from Korea) arrived and this led to the conversion of the base into a tourist attraction, with new jobs. Unfortunately, all this prosperity led to an increase in sex tourism (also from Korea), with many night clubs and bars owned by both foreigners and Filipinos. Moreover, another plague is hitting children very hard: incest. In fact, many of the children staying at PREDA are victims of incest, while others were rescued from brothels, sold by their parents.

The foundation still has 35 active cases against sex traders in court, but had many more which were abandoned by the courts. I myself became an admirer of PREDA foundation, which works not only in the Philippines, but also operates in other countries. May God continue to bless FR. Shay and his teams' efforts in restoring dignity and hope to many children.

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