Fr. Cullen on the Conspiracy Against His Work
Published in The Catholic Herlad
January 05, 2001
Sir, I write to thank The Catholic Herald for publishing the report of the dismissal of the false charge of rape made against me (December 22). In the Philippines it is easy to files a formal complaint against anyone. Without any requirement of a police investigation, a complainant can just swear to a statement and the charge is made. Then they can give that to the media to defame their opponent. There is no law to protect the innocent from such defamatory allegations. That is why the staff of the Preda Foundation in Olongapo appreciates your publishing the truth now that I have been vindicated.
There is a lot more behind this terrible and painful frame-up and false accusation. We have more on this on our web site; www.preda.org but please give me a chance to explain more of the background to your readers.
This allegation of rape, now proved to be false, was a counter charge sprung back against me by the non-biological father of the seven-year-old child. The complainant is a retired U.S. serviceman.
He refused to bring charges against his own adopted son and the houseboy. The child first accused these two boys over a period of eight months to the authorities. With the help of Filipino social workers I was trying to bring them to justice and get them treatment. One of the teenagers had admitted to the authorities that he had abused the child. Despite this and other evidence, it was I whom he charged based on fabricated evidence.
The eight-page dismissal, clearing my name, reviewed all the evidence offered by the complainant against me and concluded that it was "bereft of nay solid foundation".
There is only one thing more painful and unjust than being falsely accused and framed with manufactured evidence and that is to be convicted and wrongly punished. This, and a court trial, I have been gratefully spared since no probable cause was found to bring the complaint to court. But it was not so for Jesus Christ. He was falsely accused, condemned and executed as a criminal on the word of false witnesses. He was framed by his own enemies whose power and wealth was threatened by His compassion for the oppressed and His redemptive message of justice and love.
This is the prophetic role, with all its painful consequences; death threats, physical harm, false allegations; vilification and rejection, where we as defenders of abused children find ourselves today.
There is an historical background to this apostolate and the frame-up. I was first assigned to St. Joseph's Parish in Olongapo City, Philippines in 1969. I was shocked by the sexual exploitation of women and children, drug abuse and the routine abortions brought by the sprawling sex industry that grew up around the huge naval base. Thousands of sailors came into the town daily to visit the brothels or pay pimps for young girls. I knew that it had to be opposed and the victims helped.
In 1973 I started an apostolate to combat this social evil that continues to destroy so many young lives and diminishes the spiritual values and dignity of the Filipino people. With Filipino co-workers I established the People's Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation (Preda) in 1974. Today 23 Filipino social workers, lawyers and therapists provide protection , shelter and recovery for abused children. In 1983 and the following years we uncovered organised paedophile rings selling little children to the US sailors and retired servicemen at the Subic naval base in Olongapo City. We went on to develop an extensive international advocacy campaign for children's rights, helped lobby for new laws to bring child abusers to justice. The campaign to remove the bases succeeded and they closed in 1992.
Preda human rights workers confronted a culture of denial and cover-up. They helped bring about the convictions some of the first sex tourists in the Philippines. The publicity surrounding these cases and many others has curtailed the sex industry and cut the profits of the bars and brothels offering young women and children as sexual playthings.
We have enemies as a result. They have retaliated against us with a barrage
of 59 libel and other complaints over two years: 37 complaints have been
dismissed by the public prosecutor as harassment or baseless. The rest are still
in the judicial process. The complaints are made to stop us speaking out and
pursuing legal action against those suspected of sexually exploiting children.
The false rape charge was the most serious and elaborately planned. According to
an investigation by the Commission on human Rights three foreigners persuaded
the child to write an incriminating letter accusing me of the crime. One is a
German bar operator, whom we had charged and is on trial for obstruction of
justice. The other is the retired US serviceman, the non-biological father of
the child is also the adoptive father of one of the teenagers accused by the
child.
They brought the 7-year-old child to the beach bar of the German to write the
letter accusing me of the crime. An Australian clergyman, who is critical of our
work, was there. According to the report, he helped the seven-year-old child
relax and encouraged her to write the incriminating letters. That was the
evidence they used to accuse me. A child under duress made it under
extraordinary circumstances, eight months after she complained that the two
teenagers had abused her.
The foreigners and their backers, knew that such a horrific accusation alone would be enough to damage my credibility and could also be used to force us at the Preda centre to withdraw our charge against them. The bar operator wrote to us suggesting such a deal. We refused. The child is still in their power and we are trying have the social welfare authorities in the Philippines take her into protective custody. The teenagers she accused need rehabilitation.
I am also very grateful that this work of the Preda defenders of children's rights and above all the plight of the children has been recognized internationally. A member of the British House of Parliament ahas nominated us for the Nobel Peace Prize. Last December 10 we were honoured to receive the German human Rights Award of the City of Weimar. The Italian City of Ferrara has also awarded us the Human Rights award for 2001.
From the beginning, His Eminence Cardinal Jaime Sin, Archbishop of Manila, knowledgeable of our work, stood by me. He said in a letter to the Secretary of Justice, "His commitment to the welfare of children has been a source of immense inspiration and edification for so many in the Catholic Church. It is very unfortunate that such a charge has been levelled against him. I know he will be proven innocent in time."
The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, the Columban Fathers, Lord David Alton, many individuals , Church and civic organizations around the world wrote statement and letters supporting us during this terrible ordeal. Their trust and solidarity with us has not been misplaced. All of us at the Preda Foundation send our grateful appreciation for their support.
Yours faithfully
SHAY CULLEN,
Preda Centre,
Upper Kalaklan,
Olongapo City, Philippines
Website: www.preda.org
E-Mail: Preda@info.com.ph
