Philippine News Digest 7

Contents:

• Turbulent priest
• Imam seized on Davao City street
• Detecting physical, emotional, and sexual abuse
• Minors abducted in Mandaluyong, S.Cotabato
• Youth tapped in war against rebels
• 2.2 million Filipinos are drug users
• Shabu now produced in RP
• Anti-drug vigilante group strikes in Digos
• Judge fired after favoring drug queen

Turbulent priest

Fr. Shay Cullen, Irish Columban missionary, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and veteran campaigner against the sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines, has long known what it is like to be resented. But last year it looked as if he would finally lose and pack up in Olongapo City, where his PREDA Children’s Center has 20 Filipino volunteers.

In 1983, he alerted the world to the first of many subsequent cases of child prostitution in the Philippines involving US army personnel. Not content with exposing the servicemen and rescuing the nine-year old girl who had been sexually abused, the Columban also pointed the finger at the syndicate that supplied her. It is part of helping the victims of abuse heal. “They’ve got to come out and point at their abuser and say, “I’m innocent. He did it.”

Hence the attempt to stop Fr. Shay’s work. The legal cases against him, which are brought by wealthy Europeans connected to foreign pedophile syndicates, are usually thrown out at the first stage. But last year they hit back with charges of their own against Fr. Shay- accusing him of the sexual abuse of children.

The head of the Church in the Philippines, Cardinal Jaime Sin, was leading political opposition to President Joseph Estrada at the time, and the Government was looking to embarrass the Church. The Secretary of Justice obliged by supporting the case against the priest, and Fr. Shay fled into hiding. For the first time, he knew depression. “You’re thrown back on your faith,” he told us recently. “All your life you’re working against the abuse, and then you’re charged with it. They knew where to hit.”

But within any system, however corrupt, there are always good people. In December last year, a courageous appeals court judge stood up for the Secretary of Justice. The charges were dropped and Fr. Shay was soon back at the PREDA.

Anyone interested at PREDA’s work can see their website, www.preda.org, or contact the Jubilee Campaign on tel. 01483894787. (Source The Tablet, 27 October 2001)

Imam seized on Davao City street

An imam was abducted by five unidentified men in Tagum City November 10, just as the police are still clueless on the disappearance of Canadian Pierre Belanger last November 3 in Balutakay, Hagonoy, Davao del Sur. The police have not yet established any motive for the abduction of Hadji Said Cosain since most kidnapping victims in Mindanao were businessmen and non-Muslims. The latest victim is neither of the two. Source Anthony A. Allada, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 November 2001.

Detecting physical, emotional, and sexual abuse

There are so many ways that one can be subjected to emotional abuse. Here are a few of them

1. Ignored your feelings.

2. Insulted your valued beliefs, religion and economic background.

3. Withheld approval or affection as a way of getting back at you.

4. Criticized you, called you names.

5. Insulted your family and friends.

6. Humiliated you in one way or another, especially in public.

7. Refused to socialize with you.

8. Kept you from working and controlled your money.

9. He/She makes all the decisions and won’t compromise.

10. Manipulated you with lies and contradictions.

You know you are sexually abused when . . .

You have been sexually abused if your partner has done any of the following to you

1. Made demeaning and disparaging remarks about women in general.

2. Treated you in a way that you felt you were but a sex object in his eyes.

3. He was exceedingly angry with jealousy, falsely accusing you with flirting and having affairs.

4. Insisted that you dress in amore sexual way than you wanted even if it caused you uneasiness and embarrassment.

5. Minimized, or worse, completely disregarded your feeling about sex.

6. Publicly showed interest in other women especially in your presence.

7. had affairs with other women.

8. Forced you into particular unwanted sex acts.

9. Withheld sex, sexual intimacy and affection as a weapon against you in a conflict.

10. He afflicted you with a sexually transmitted disease.

You’re abused physically if. . .

If any of the following has happened to you, then you are physically abused

1. He pushed you or shoved you in anger.

2. He held you to keep you from leaving.

3. He slapped, bit, kicked or choked you.

4. He hit you or punched you.

5. He threw things at you.

6. He ordered you out of the car, or left you alone in a potentially dangerous place.

7. He refused to care for you when you’re sick or injured.

8. He threatened you with a weapon.

9. He raped you.

Source Bob Garon, Today, November 12-14, 2001.
Minors abducted in Mandaluyong, S.Cotabato

Two minors were abducted in separate occasions in Mandaluyong City and South Cotabato November 12, raising the total number of kidnap victims to a new record high. Kidnapped were Angela Dee Pineda, 14, daughter of well-known dermatologist Dr.Vinzons Pineda and Delia Dee, and Jimmy Yap Jr., 5, a son of hardware store owners. Presidential Spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao admitted “there is some increase in kidnappings this year”, at the same time that the Philippine National Police released statistics projecting a lower crime volume this year compared with last year. Source Nelson Flores et. al., Philippine Daily Inquirer, 13 November 2001.

Youth tapped in war against rebels

The military in Misamis Occidental has decided to tap local youth councils to help counter the influence of the communist movement after it was reported that there was an increase in the recruitment activities of the New People’s Army aimed at the youth. This new tactic was revealed by Maj. Serafin Raymundo, commanding officer of the Army’s Fifth Infantry Battalion. It was also learned that six of the nine villages in the province are “red areas” where the rebels take refuge.

2.2 million Filipinos are drug users

The National Drug Law Enforcement and Prevention Coordinating Center reported on November 8 that the Philippines has up to 2.2 million full-fledged drug users helped by about 500, 000 drug pushers. A majority of those who admitted having used illegal drugs were aged 25-34 and belonged to the class D. The survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations commissioned by the DEP also showed that 51% of Filipino of now considers the drug menace as “a very serious problem”. Source Gerald Lacuarta, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9 November 2001.

Shabu now produced in RP

Police authorities discovered that drug syndicates from Mainland China no longer smuggle shabu into the Philippines. Instead, they now manufacture the drug in the country because it has become more difficult to bring finished shabu here. This discovery was made after the Police Regional Intelligence Special Operation Office of the National Capital Region and the Metro Manila Drug Enforcement Group raided a house in Pasig City that yielded a full-scale shabu laboratory. Source Luige del Puerte and Agnes Donato, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8 November 2001.

Anti-drug vigilante group strikes in Digos

A vigilante group similar to the Davao Death Squad has resumed operations in Digos City after the latter ceased its summary executions last October after fifteen deaths. Last week, three suspected pushers including a woman, were killed by motorcycle-riding hit men in this city. The latest target, Virgilio Erasmo, survived after he sensed the threat on his life and managed to run for safety. Digos City Vice Mayor condemned the killings saying that it is inhuman to cut short the lives of suspected drug pushers without due process of law. He also denied rumors that Mayor Arsenio Latasa is protecting the DDS. Suspicion about Latasa’s involvement with the DDS first came about in May when he said he welcomes the vigilantes, if they ever existed. Source Anthony Allada et.al, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7 November 2001.

Judge fired after favoring drug queen

The Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Manuel Muro for bias towards the convicted drug trafficker Yu Yuk Lai. It also ordered the forfeiture of Muro’s retirement benefits and barred him from reentering government service. Muro granted Yu’s motion to be admitted to the Manila Doctor’s Hospital for seven days. He extended this period to “one month and until such time she is fit to be discharged” by granting Yu’s petition for extension. This enraged State Prosecutor Pablo Formaran III who filed an opposition to Muro’s two orders which he said were inappropriate because they were based solely on the opinion of Yu’s doctors. Earlier, the high court has also dismissed Court of Appeals Associate Justice Demetrio Demetria for intervening on Yu’s behalf. Source Michael Lim Ubac, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7 November 2001.