The Crucifixion of Shay Cullen
Published in the Catholic New Times
April 15, 2001
Who is this man, Shay Cullen, who is not afraid to take on senators, congressmen, mayors, governors, police officers, foreign pedophiles, pimps and presidents? Who is this Don Quixote who wields his pen like a mighty sword to face down the omnipresence of the U.S. military forces? What motivates this pastor to dimb a 40-foot pole and live on a small platform for days and weeks to Prevent hi voltage writing - to connect APEC delegates to the centres of power - from being erected right past a treatment home for abused children? What sort of missionary is this who has organized prostitutes into a union and has had death threats and more than 60 false libel charges brought against him in the last year?
Shay is a 59-Year-old Dublin born priest, a member of the Columban Fathers, who came to the Philippines as a missionary in 1969. When you meet him for the first time, he seems ordinary enough, soft spoken with a lyrical Irish lilt, most affable and modest When you have known him for 25 years as a friend, you realize that this humble priest is extraordinary indeed. He belongs to that Abrahamic minority, like Dorothy Day, Oscar Romero and Martin Luther King, which dared to speak and act boldly, resisting the systemic infuses which characterized the last century as the most violent in human history. Shay is a priest inspired by Vatican 11, who believes that his vocation extends beyond celebrating the Eucharist and administering the sacraments, that personal salvation is more than praying for delayed eternal rewards and that building the Reign of God starts here and now on earth.
In 1974, Shay and co-workers Alex and Merle Hermoso, shocked by the widespread sexual exploitation of women and children in the Philippines, founded the Peoples Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistant Foundation (PREDA) to help victims of human rights violations. The PREDA home for sexually abused children is situated in Olongapo City overlooking a panoramic view of Subic Bay, former home fo the U.S. Naval base. Clarkfield the for their daily bread. Children aged 7,8 and 9 were reported suffering from venereal disease. "The kids told us they had been used by American sailors" Cullen recalls, "But the naval authorities told us to keep quiet so they could catch the perpetrators. What happened more often than nor was that the Navy shipped out the suspects to avoid prosecution. The cover up by U.S. and Philippine authorities sparked the outrage that drove PREDA's relentless campaign to lobby for improved laws to protect women and children and to prosecute abusers. PREDA played a leading role in the successful removal of the U.S. bases in 1992.
The forgotten children
Shay, dressed in his white vestments, would take his small band of throwaway children to the base for an outdoor mass and demonstrate with 'Yankee Go Home' signs. PREDA was also the first group to propose the economic conversion plan that eventually became law and turned Subic and Clark into industrial areas that provide work with dignity. In another bold move, Cullen brought some of the forgotten children of illicit relations to the U.S. and charged the Navy with abandonment. The class action suit resulted in a U.S. congressional decision to assign $65,000 for the Fit-Am children through US AID- But the problems were far from over. A Visiting Forces Agreement, approved last year by former president Estrada, has brought the U.S. military back to the Philippines. A particularly obscene clause prevents the service men from being prosecuted for crimes committed on Philippine soil. The profitable sex industry which catered to the military brought in so much money that local red light entrepreneurs considered themselves almost untouchables. Aggressive marketing techniques turned Olongapo and Angeles into the Pacifies most rancid fleshpots for international sex tourism.
Agnes Fournier de Saint Maur, who tracks global child sex trends, says the demand comes not only from pedophiles but from men eager to push the are restored, evil will become entrenched and irreversible in public affairs" claimed Shay Cullen, "and the domination of this country by a political elite will never be broken." A case in point is that Dick Gordon, who as mayor of Olongapo profited from the sex trade, is now promoted by the new president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the commissioner of tourism for the country. Through a global network (www.preda.org) of internet connections with human rights and advocacy groups, Shay and his team of Filipino men and women bring the weight of public opinion to bear on criminal and exploitative practices which oppress the poor. For this he was short for the prestigious Betinho Assistant Foundation (PREDA) to help victims of human rights violations. The PREDA home for sexually abused children is situated in Olongapo City overlooking a panoramic view of Subic Bay, former home of the U.S. Naval base. Clarkfield, the U.S. air force base, was a few miles down the road in Angeles City. Both military operations had a well established vice trade involving underage girls catering to American service personnel. In Olongapo alone there were an estimated 60,000 women and children who depended on prostitution into the Pacific's most rancid fleshpots for international sex tourism.
Agnes Fournier de Saint Maur, who tracks global child sex trends, says the demand comes not only from pedophiles but from men eager to push the envelope of carnal exploration. Fear of AIDS is a contributing factor, driving men to seek younger partners in the mistaken belief that they are less likely to be infected. The main root use of child abuse however is globalization and mounting Third World poverty, which forces parents to sell their children on the open market in order to eke out a living. Disparity in Eastern Europe, Asia and other regions has created the rise of a criminal mafia dealing in "mail order brides." In the developed world the internet pornography boom has resulted in pedophile syndicates.
Shay's response to this deterioration of human rights has been to lobby First World 8,Dvemments to pass legislation to allow for domestic prosecution for child sex crimes committed abroad. Twenty-one nations have now implemented such laws. "Murder, financial misconduct and drug dealing are extraditable offences" says Cullen, "but sex tourism has received little international attention."
The Hidden Camera
What has drawn international attention to Shay himself is his tenacious drive to track down and charge individuals suspected of child abuse. With a hidden camera, Shay and his investigative team enter the red light district and pose as tourists. The recorded statements by bar owners and saw pimps are both revealing and shocking. The team testimony by the very young girls and boys who are rescued through this undercover operations are so heart rending that they are difficult to watch. His efforts have helped to convict dozens of men in the Philippines and overseas. This has earned him the praise of human rights activists around the world and the ire of foreign brothel owners, pedophile rings and local politicians.
In spite of popular uprisings to dispose of dictator Marcos, and more, recently the indictment of former president Estrada. 2 percent of the population continues to control 70 percent of the country's wealth and power. "Unless the masks of hypocrisy are torn away and a sense of morality and social justice with human rights and advocacy groups, Shay and his team of Filipino men and women bring the weight of public opinion to bear on criminal and exploitative practices which oppress the poor. For this he was short listed for the prestigious betinho prize - lie has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Nigel Griffith, 2 Scottish parliamentarian, he received the German Human Rights award from the city of Weimar and has been called "an inspiration to the Catholic Church" by Cardinal Jamie Sin. The international press named him the Wyatt Earp of Olongapo and a crusader against child abuse.
Martin Sheen would like to portray him in a movie. This world wide support and acclaim has been critical in fighting over 60 false charges that were concocted against him by the pedophiles, corrupt officials and their associates. Fifty three charges have already been dismissed as baseless and unbelievable by the highest Philippine authority.
One case involved a libel charge levied by the mayor of Davao, because PREDA protested the social cleansing of street youth in that city. Exposing pimps and politicians makes Shay a constant target for rogue cops and hired guns. Because of his commitment to defend the fundamental dignity of the human person, he dismisses these dangers. "I know there is a price on my head and hitmen on my trail. They might kill me, but they won't stop me." And as far as his crucifixion is concerned, he says "Jesus suffered false charges all through his life. He did not bow down, nor Can I." Playing down his own role in the struggle for justice, he insists that it is in the poor, the outcasts, the excluded and exploited that Christ is crucified again and again.
Hank Zyp is the cofounder of Rainbow of Hope for Children Society, an Alberta based NGO. In partnership with PREDA it implemented a farm gate to factory gate mango project to bypass foreign cartels and to secure a better return for the farmers' labor. Rainbow of Hope, with grants from CIDA and the Wild Rose Foundation is about to enter into another agreement with PREDA to launch a "Guardian Angel" project to create awareness of the global scale of child abuse. For more information: hankzyp@hotmail.com or glunz@tchrsplanet.net
by HAN ZYP
