EMPOWERED CHILDREN WIN CONVICTIONS OF SEX TRAFFICKERS, ABUSERS
CRYSTAL was only 10 years old when her father took her one day into a room of their house in San Narciso, Zambales, and sexually assaulted her. He thought he could rape his daughter with impunity and do whatever he liked to his child, having ascendancy over her. Crystal was hurt and traumatized by the sexual abuse and cried. She ran and told her older brother Emmanuel about it, and he reported the abuse.
The municipal social worker referred Crystal to the Preda Foundation healing home for abused children in Subic, Zambales. She was welcomed, supported, affirmed and encouraged in the family of 56 children, many of whom had suffered abuse similar to Crystal's.
While undergoing emotional release therapy, Crystal let out all her pain and anger at her father. "You are supposed to protect me. Instead, you abused me," she shouted at her father in the sound-proof therapy room. After weeks of therapy, Crystal was healed, recovered and had new self-confidence. She bravely filed a case with the prosecutor, as she wanted justice.
When she was called to testify in court, Crystal spoke bravely, strongly and clearly during her testimony. Judge Maribel Mariano-Beltran of Regional Trial Court Branch 13 in Iba, Zambales, heard it all and believed Crystal; her father could only deny the accusations. On June 7, 2024, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Some government authorities and lawyers frequently arrange plea bargaining for abusers, with some getting probation. The reason, they say, is to spare the child victim from testifying and avoid him or her from being re-traumatized. Being re-traumatized is likely for that child for the rest of his or her life, as the memory of the abuse would never be erased because they don't get professional therapy and healing. The child has lost his or her trust in people. The child's self-value is diminished, and he or she will not be cured.
In Cebu, five judges have expressed concern that there is no such protection for such victims, as well as a healing home for them, in the province. The victims mysteriously disappear and never get to testify. The family of the accused sees to that. The judges say a protective therapeutic home is needed.
Without stay-in therapeutic healing centers, government social workers leave many vulnerable and abused children, terrified and unprotected, with the family of the abuser or in the community. There are almost no government-run healing centers offering care, therapy, protection and legal assistance. The child victims are so traumatized that they do not come to court to testify. Many are made to "disappear" by relatives of the accused trafficker or abuser.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said he wants to leave a legacy of ending child sexual abuse. A noble ambition, indeed. He will not succeed for sure without the honest and true commitment and ability of government agencies to detect online abuse, rescue young victims of abuse and human trafficking, and provide therapeutic centers offering emotional release therapy to help heal these children. We need proper therapeutic homes to heal and strengthen children to testify against their abusers and traffickers and live a more normal life after justice is attained.
There are millions of abuse victims who need healing and suffer in silence, still yet to be heard. A United Nations Children's Fund survey says approximately 7 million children reported sexual abuse in a single year. Undersecretary Angelo Tapales, executive director of the Council for the Welfare of Children, was reported as saying that 8,948 Filipino children were reportedly sexually abused in 2023 alone. What happened to them? Where did they get therapy and healing? Are they just sent home after a day of counseling at the Department of Social Welfare and Development?
That figure is just the tip of the great iceberg of child abuse, most of which goes unreported. It is estimated that one in every three girls and one in every five boys suffer abuse. They have nowhere to go to be healed and get justice. If the Philippines is like the Titanic, then it is sinking fast in an ocean known as a pedophile paradise.
The Preda Foundation and this writer urge Sen. Risa Hontiveros and her fellow legislators to support a proposed law establishing government-funded therapeutic homes for abused children and a special court to hear their cases without postponements or allowing private out-of-court settlements. This is so needed.
Preda's therapeutic homes have healed and empowered many children to fight and win hundreds of court cases against their rapists and abusers since 1996. In recent years, children have won an average of 20 convictions every year. By June 12, 2024, they have, with help from Preda, good prosecutors and just judges, won 12 convictions. Therapeutic homes are powerful and necessary in the fight against child abuse and human trafficking.
The case of Maria and Princess is inspiring. They were 13 and 15 years old, respectively, when they were locked inside their home in San Marcelino, Zambales. Maria was repeatedly raped by her father, two brothers and an uncle. She endured this for many years and was totally traumatized by it. She was frozen by fear into total silence. Her sister Princess was also sexually abused by her father, a brother and a neighbor. Their mother allowed it to happen and said nothing. Princess finally got out and told a friendly family of the abuse. They were rescued and brought to the Preda home for protection and care. There, they overcame their fear and trauma through emotional release therapy.
They were given all the support they needed and found the courage to file complaints against their relatives, and they testified in court. The two brothers, father and an uncle were convicted by Judge Gemma Theresa Hilario-Logronio, a strong-minded judge who said the clear testimonies of the girls were convincing and concise, leading her to find the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Justice was done and seen to be done all because of the therapy and help they received in the Preda home. Without it, justice would not have been possible.
2024-06-15T16:14:31Z dg43tfdfdgfd