There have been celebrations around the world this past week to mark the feast day of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. People displayed the Irish flag, wore green clothing, and pinned sprigs of shamrock, an Irish plant associated with Ireland’s conversion from paganism to Christianity. For some, it is a religious festival; for others, a secular tradition.
In Chicago, which has a large Irish immigrant population, city officials dyed the river green. In Ireland’s capital, Dublin, parades and parties were joined by thousands of people, yet few knew what they were celebrating or why.
It should be a celebration of the bravery of a young man named Patrick, who was 16 when human traffickers abducted him in Wales around the year 410. They took him across the Irish Sea to Ireland, where he was enslaved. He was a victim of human trafficking, a common practice at the time that persists today.
Patrick learned to speak Gaelic, the Irish language, and after years as a slave herding sheep, he found the courage to escape. He walked across Ireland, found a ship, and worked his passage back home to Wales. He later became a missionary, returned to Ireland, and persuaded local rulers to embrace the values of Jesus of Nazareth. Over time, these leaders were converted and freed their slaves.
In the Philippines, a famous female freedom fighter was Gabriela Silang. She was the first woman to lead a rebellion against Spanish forces in 1763 to free her people from oppression and slavery. After the assassination of her husband, Diego Silang, she took command of his forces and fought to liberate the Ilocos region until her capture and execution later that year. She is known as the “Joan of Arc of Ilocandia.”
Jose Rizal was a highly educated ophthalmologist and a novelist who exposed the oppression of his people under Spanish rule. Through his writings, he inspired Filipinos to resist colonial rule nonviolently. He revealed injustices imposed by the Spanish regime that can be described as de facto slavery.
In the aftermath, American forces arrived after defeating the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. They presented themselves as allies of Filipino revolutionaries but later fought them in a brutal war marked by widespread atrocities. The United States took control of the Philippines in 1901.
Although independence was granted in July 1946, critics argue that the country remained economically dependent. Today, nine US military bases operate within Philippine facilities with government approval. American multinational companies, alongside Filipino conglomerates, play a dominant role in the economy. More than 800 companies are members of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.
Slavery: A way of life
Slavery was entrenched in the United States beginning in 1661, when it was recognized by law in Virginia. Early wealth in the country was built on enslaved labor. By 1804, all northern states had enacted legislation abolishing slavery.
Southern states, however, insisted on their right to treat enslaved people as property and to extract labor without pay. Many in the North opposed this, arguing that it violated Christian moral principles.
In December 1860, 11 southern states seceded from the United States to form the Confederate States of America, triggering the American Civil War. Then-President Abraham Lincoln campaigned for the passage of the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. It was approved in January 1865.
During this period, enslaved men and women fled plantations in the South, seeking safety in northern states. Among them was Harriet Tubman, born into slavery in 1822. She escaped from Dorchester County, Maryland, and reached Philadelphia at age 27.
Tubman returned to the South multiple times, risking her life to rescue others. With support from the Underground Railroad, she carried out around 13 missions, leading about 70 enslaved people to freedom. She also guided another 50 to 60 people who escaped independently.
During the Civil War, she served with Union forces and helped lead the Combahee River Raid, which freed more than 700 enslaved people. She died at about 93 years old. Her life has been depicted in the 2019 film Harriet.
In the Philippines, the Senate voted against renewing the treaty allowing US bases on Sept. 16, 1991. The final US military ship, the USS Belleau Wood, left Subic Bay on Nov. 24, 1992.
The campaign to free women and children from sex exploitation in Olongapo City and to close US bases began in 1983 through an anti-bases movement led by the Preda Foundation. After the bases closed, about 1,000 women and children were freed from exploitation in bars and brothels, where many had been held in debt bondage.
Today, 171,653 people are employed in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
However, human trafficking remains widespread in the Philippines and globally. Economic hardship forces millions into exploitative conditions. Around 17 million Filipinos reportedly survive on only one meal a day. Some are driven into exploitative labor, including in the sex trade.
The United Nations Children’s Fund estimates that 12 percent of children in South Asia, or more than 41 million, are engaged in unpaid child labor. Data from the International Labour Organization and the Walk Free Foundation indicate that about 29.3 million people in Asia and the Pacific were living in conditions of modern slavery as of 2021. This accounts for nearly 60 percent of the global total.
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.
