At no other time has the Philippines faced such a moral crisis or such a challenge to its integrity as a nation. Government officials, civil society groups, and child protection advocates are being challenged to take a stronger moral and social stand against the growing number of crimes against children, especially those committed through the internet.
It is here, UNICEF says, that 2 million Filipino children suffer abuse multiple times during childhood. Sexual abuse in the home is also a horrific crime whose full extent continues to unfold.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addressed the issue in his State of the Nation Address. He did not propose clear solutions, but he highlighted the grave plight of children and young people being seduced, brainwashed, abused, trafficked and driven to commit sexual and violent acts against other children.
He mentioned the tragic shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City. The teenage shooters were most likely driven by violence they encountered online. Telecommunications companies and internet service providers bear responsibility for allowing access to violent games depicting the killing and maiming of people and for failing to block child sexual abuse videos and images that can drive 12- and 13-year-old boys to rape 6-year-old girls.
The president is deploying 10,000 school counselor associates to public schools to help these children. He is not condemning them as young criminals, as his predecessor did. His predecessor is himself detained in the Netherlands while facing criminal charges.
However, as long as telecommunications companies ignore the law mandating the installation of blocking software on their servers, the violent influence of figures such as the Tate brothers and the downloading of child abuse videos and images will continue. The president’s solution treats the symptoms, but the root cause of the internet’s harmful contamination of young people lies with the telecommunications companies themselves. Saving and protecting young people from perverse influences is the duty of the entire Filipino community, Marcos said.
The shootings in Tacloban involving teenagers and the rape of 6- and 7-year-old girls by young boys have been influenced by harmful figures such as Andrew and Tristan Tate. The brothers make millions of dollars by spreading hatred of women through online sites accessible to everyone, especially young people.
They promote and cultivate a violent culture of male dominance. They encourage young people to dominate girls and women and promote hypermasculine abuse, including sexual domination. They preach that males are the dominant gender and that females are inferior and available for the pleasure and sexual gratification of men.
That is a toxic mix for teenagers who are only beginning to discover their sexuality and masculinity. The Tates encourage total control over women and girls, driving young males toward sexually abusing children and women rather than teaching them to respect, honor, help, serve, protect and support their families and children.
In the United Kingdom, the Tate brothers face a total of 59 criminal charges for rape, human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The UK government is seeking their extradition from the United States to stand trial.
Marcos called for a nationwide “whole-of-society effort” to protect children and young people from what he described as “pernicious influences,” including a toxic culture of hate, online violence and easily accessible pornography. These are the evil influences that corrupt young people and propel them to commit acts of sexual abuse, harm and violence.
The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, also known as Republic Act 9344 and amended by RA 10630, is designed to help these abused and corrupted young people. It seeks to hold them accountable and correct their grave mistakes through education, therapy, training in human rights and dignity, and the teaching of strong moral and spiritual values.
The law and its drafters recognize the limited discernment of young children who commit crimes and shift the focus from penalizing and punishing minors to a restorative justice system in which their rights are respected and they are helped to overcome the negative influences imposed on them by a corrupt society.
The House of Hope, or Bahay Pag-asa, was established under the law to support its implementation. The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council oversees the implementation of this justice framework nationwide.
While the Commission on Human Rights has raised alarm over several local centers that still resemble prisons, the Department of Social Welfare and Development launched a P275-million funding initiative to build new regional Bahay Pag-asa models designed strictly as rehabilitative, homelike and safe spaces.
However, cities such as Marikina and Parañaque are allegedly falling short. The CHR highlighted poor conditions and child protection gaps in several Bahay Pag-asa facilities nationwide.
According to the CHR’s situational monitoring report, the jail-like features of the so-called “Houses of Hope” are among the issues requiring immediate attention. The facilities resemble detention centers rather than restorative and safe environments, the report said. It also found evidence of physical violence, abuse and violent conduct during a child’s initial apprehension.
The report also cited staff misconduct, including ill-treatment and improper handling of minors; substandard living conditions, including poor care and inadequate nutrition; restricted family contact because of overly strict or heavily limited visitation rules; institutional bottlenecks causing significant delays in the legal disposition of cases; a lack of basic services, including limited access to health care and formal education; and under-resourced facilities facing severe shortages of specialized staff, local social workers and daily operational resources.
The effect of these experiences on young people locked in caged facilities, like dogs in an animal pound, could be enough to turn them against authorities and a society in which they have suffered mistreatment and hardship. They are then more likely to be influenced by malign online figures, violent games and sexual abuse content spread over the internet by profit-driven corporations that corrupt children and young people.
They can be led toward good and away from evil if given the chance to experience respect, affirmation, encouragement and genuine listening. When they are given the opportunity to understand their worth as human beings and children of God, they can change, grow and thrive in a new life, as children at the Preda Foundation have done.
For more than five decades, the foundation has provided transformational therapy and education in an open center. About 1,500 children and young people who passed through its programs now lead productive and meaningful lives.
Note: Any original information, stories, or news articles posted on this site that are authored by the Preda Foundation and Father Shay Cullen may be shared, copied, or reproduced without further permission, in support of truth, freedom of expression, and the public’s right to know.
LiCAS News was granted permission to republish and adapt this article by Father Shay Cullen in the spirit of truth-telling and the pursuit of justice.
Irish missionary Father Shay Cullen, SSC, founded the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sexual abuse.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of LiCAS News.
