Preda Foundation, Inc. Amerasian Page
Welcome!
The abandoned Amerasian children of the Philippines are asking their long lost fathers to help them, get in contact and recognize them at least.
Children under the Convention of the Rights of the Child have a right to know his or her parents, to have a complete identity and to be belonging to a natural family. This page helps the children realize these rights.
On this page, at the request of the children, and their mothers we are posting appeals for help and the photographs of the fathers they are seeking. The children are here too for their fathers to see them as they are today. Please contact PREDA if you can help put the fathers in contact with their children.
History of the "Campaign of the Mothers of Amerasian Children"
"The U.S. Navy offered no assistance to the women or their children."
For many years PREDA has been helping the children abandoned by their American fathers. When the Military base at Subic Bay finally closed in 1992, PREDA tried to get help for the many more children left to fend for themselves. Their mothers were facing difficult time. PREDA extended it's assistance for these children by helping the mothers to organize themselves into The Fil-Am Mothers Association. They marched and lobbied for their rights not to be abandoned, requested for assistance and support for the children.
"The campaign of Amerasian mothers to get justice for their children assisted by PREDA reached its height when they filed a class action suit against the U.S. Government."
In 1993, PREDA in behalf of the children together with the women's rights movement filed a class action suit against the U.S. Government to seek redress of the children and their mothers. This was heard in the Court of Complaints in Washington DC and finally the judge dismissed the complaint saying that the mothers of the children were engaged in prostitution and that being illegal the court could not rule on an illegal act from which the women would gain. It was recommended that the Congress should address the issue.
PREDA then lobbied with the Congressional Women's Caucus and through the efforts of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo of 14th District of California, the U.S.Congress recommend that the sum of 2 million be made available for the children. US AID made 650,000 dollars available for the children. This was channeled to the children through the Pearl Buck Foundation.
PREDA did not receive any of the money to distribute but with the assistance of the Children and Youth Foundation of the Philippines set up a Human Development Education Fund to provide human development training and livelihood assistance to the mothers and personality and formal education for the children. Why the children want most of all is to know their fathers. Here are the fathers and the children we hope that they can put in contact with each other.
(Click on the picture to view large size)
(Amerasian Fathers)