PREDA CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER December 2000

Dear Friends,

From all the children at the PREDA Family (there are 46) comes a special greeting. We want you to know that everyday from now on until New Year’s Day, we are praying for you at morning and evening prayers.

A personal message

We want you to feel the Spirit of Christmas, to experience the good news that we are all valuable and important in ourselves and especially in the eyes of God who sent his son into the world to give us hope and happiness. We pray that you may be at peace within yourself and happy to know that we care for you too as you care about us.

Christmas is about Jesus. His coming is a message in itself, his life opened to us the dignity and sacredness of every person and how God loves each one. His life shows us what love is – sacrificing, giving and caring and helping others especially the downtrodden and the victims of abuse and injustice. Jesus was made a victim of injustice himself. When we look in the Christmas
manger we must remember that he was soon threatened by King Herod and became a refugee to escape the slaughter of the innocents. Let us remember too the millions of innocent children in the world prostituted and abused by perverts and pedophiles.

Jesus stood against them all, said a millstone should be tied around their neck and they be thrown into the sea. He spoke out against

hypocrisy, the oppression of the poor and called us all to repentance and a new life. That is what Christmas is about. For opposing corruption and evil, He was falsely charged and executed as a criminal. But He lives on in our minds and hearts and spirits, He was resurrected into the world as our inspiration and living friend and guide.

Christmas, the birthday celebration of Jesus and what He meant to the world is not about parties, and self-indulgence, or running after material things. It is about what genuine love is – sacrifice, self-denial, justice for the poor, the dignity of each person defending human rights and enhancing life and protecting creation. It is about finding and seeing God in all things and all persons who are in tune with His will. Let this be our kind of Christmas.

False charges dismissed

The good news is that God is faithful and stands by us in times of trial and challenge. The serious false charges made against us by a member of a pedophile support group in Olongapo City were finally dismissed as baseless and unbelievable last week by the highest Philippine authority. We have been exonerated and proven innocent of the false charges for the third time. We thank God and all of you, through whom God works for justice, for your steadfast and increased support for us.

The false charges are concocted and made up by the pedophile support group. Some of them and their associates, we have charged in court or already had convicted for the sexual abuse of children. Others are suspected of trafficking in women as “mail order” brides. So, all their false charges have been retaliation against us for the past three years. They want to stop our work, end our campaign to save the women and children from abuse. Their business depends on a steady supply of women and children to make their profits. This group has already prostituted children they lured out of PREDA.

Hundreds support PREDA

Hundreds of individuals and organizations came to our help with petitions and letters of support. The religious organizations of priests and sisters throughout the Philippines, joined a postcard petition and sent thousands to the Department of Justice protesting the frame up.

There were many well known people supporting the campaign, Cardinal Jaime Sin – Archbishop of Manila, wrote a letter saying the work of PREDA was an inspiration to the church.

The Columban Fathers, the members of the British Parliament led by Lord David Alton and Ieuan Wyn Jones MP, a ranking US Congressman, and many church agencies and child care institutions all made a stand for us against the false accusers, perverts and pedophiles.

In making their false charges, we know that they have the support of corrupt officials who wants to see us silenced from speaking the truth. Sad to say they abused children and corrupted others to get them to give false testimony against us. We forgive them, pray for their conversion and hope that they will embrace their punishment as a penance when brought to justice and convicted. Then they cannot harm more children and young women.

One of the most serious case still pending against us is the libel charge brought by the Mayor of Davao. That was because we protested and campaigned against the brutal butchery of the street youth in Davao City in Mindanao. There is a vigilante death squad that roams about killing anybody they suspect of being anti-social or who look like pickpockets or market thieves or drug users. They are street youth, homeless, abandoned and hungry. Our campaign raised a huge protest and stopped the killing for a while. I ask you to pray fro them this Christmas.

Human Rights Award for PREDA

This December 10 is Human Rights Day and PREDA will receive a Human Rights award from the famous and historical city of Weimar in Germany. The award recognizes the importance of the campaign to protect sexually trafficked and enslaved women and children. Mr. and Mrs. Alex Hermoso, PREDA directors and co-founders of PREDA with Fr. Shay 27 years ago will go to Weimar to receive the award, give an acceptance speech, attend a press conference and give public lectures. The pedophile support group leader in Olongapo City, a German national, wrote to the city council of Weimar protesting the award and urging it be canceled. The city council and awarding committee consulted with many leaders of major Non-government and church agencies in Germany about the protest but it was totally rejected and repudiated by everyone.

They expressed disgust at the black propaganda and smear campaign by the pedophile group against PREDA and the efforts of the pedophile support group to stage a frame up with false charges. The pedophile support group members will face more criminal charges of malicious prosecution and other complaints in the near future.

Nobel & Italian Human Rights Award

Besides being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2001, PREDA has been awarded the Human Rights Award from the Italian City of Ferrera which will be presented next year in Italy.

The huge Italian Non-Government Organization known as ARCE, a social – development organization whose 1.6 million members that is active in child protection in Italy and abroad has pledged it’s support for the work of PREDA and will organize speaking tours in Italy next year after the award presentation in Ferrara. The campaign will call for international political concern and for police investigations into the sex trafficking of women and children.

The Story of PREDA is becoming a best seller

A book on the work of the PREDA center, titled the “Selling of Innocence” by Stefano Vecchia, a well known writer and editor of Populi, a famous magazine in Italy is becoming a best seller. Stefano spends a lot of time at book launchings in different cities signing books. Copies of the book have been sent to the heads of pontifical offices in the Vatican and more have been ordered.

PREDA Youth Theater group tours Germany

The PREDA Youth Theater Group toured Germany for two and half months from August this year. They visited 28 cities and towns and sometimes performed twice a day to enraptured audiences. They were invited by the cultural department of World Expo in Hanover where they made several performances. 

 

ThePREDA

AKBAY

Theater

group

The Theater group presents a musical with songs and dance depicting the story of trafficking of minors and how it can be stopped. There are invitations to tour in Italy and Spain next year and a return visit to Germany.

The group also performs in Zambales and Olongapo to educate youth and develop gender sensitivity. They will participate in a Theater Festival next year in the Philippines.

There were several hundred Japanese visitors to PREDA from the Peace Boat. These young people tour Asia from country to country to foster peace and cultural experiences. There was a full cultural presentation at the PREDA center by the organized youth group.

Other workshops and seminars are constantly being held at the PREDA center. Last month the Central Luzon Police held their seminar at PREDA to be briefed on the child protection laws and how to bring criminal complaints under the family and child protection laws. They were informed about the Olongapo and Angeles pedophile protection group and their nefarious activities in harassing PREDA and obstructing justice. This group send out black propaganda against the work of PREDA but are ignored by the recipients who know their criminal background and their involvement in the sex business.

International contacts growing

The “Guardian Angel” campaign has been very successful in Europe and is expanding. Organized by Missio – the German Church agency, volunteers go to the airports and erect huge posters and pictures against sex tourism and inviting travelers to join the Guardian Angels and to take action by reporting any suspicious situations where children appear to be in danger of abuse. Members pledge to support the campaign, sign petitions for government action against sex tour operators and those harassing PREDA.

Fair Trade Activities

Our work also extends to prevention. Not only in preventive education but in economic development and assistance to small producer groups, farmers and cooperatives. The poverty alleviation projects is to increase prosperity, provide employment, help keep families together in their villages and to stop recruitment of poor children for the sex industry and slow migration to the city slums.

To increase the dignity and value of women and female children, PREDA recently participated in a three-day conference on gender sensitivity for Small and Medium Enterprise Development groups held in Baguio City. A PREDA staffer was elected Coordinator of the Luzon Core Group.

Last September, during the Peaceboat visit, the fair trade department held an exhibit and sales inside the Japanese Peaceboat. Producers’ products were displayed and marketed.

The FairTrade department also joined yet another regional trade fair in Megamall held in September. Other trainings and group organizing seminars have been held for the producer groups. These are designed to empower and enable the group to be efficient and self -managing.

The children at the PREDA center have been going to school winning awards and growing and maturing in therapy and spiritual formation. The first week of December, they went to Laguna for a two-day spiritual retreat with Sister Luella – their spiritual counsellor and with Becky, an English volunteer helping at the PREDA center. They go on field trips, have parties, dancing and singing. These one-time victims of vicious abuse are now recovering quickly with the affirmation, encouragement and the friendship of the professional staff and happy with their new- found sense of dignity, self-respect and freedom.

We wish all of you happiness to this Christmas and everyday in the coming New Year.

From the Children and Staff at PREDA

Merry Christmas,

Happy New Year !