Preda Foundation Saves Hundreds of Children from Abuse

Preda Foundation Saves Hundreds of Children from Abuse
Francis B. Bermido Jr.

The experience of Rozza, now 15 years old but was abused when only eleven, shows how the Preda Foundation is giving new life to many children through its recovery and healing program. This heart-warming success story needs to be told.

In a Decision dated 16 August 2021, Judge Gemma Theresa B. Hilario-Logronio found Jay-R Mendoza[1] guilty beyond reasonable doubt of four counts of rape of his own child aged 11 years when he first sexually abused her and sentenced him to life in prison.

Preda Foundation social workers rescued the child, gave her protection and therapy and assisted the victim, Rozza, in filing her legal complaint against her abusive father in 2015. Mendoza was arrested and jailed since 2015 as the cases were non-bailable. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars. The sentence is four Reclusion Perpertua and the no-nonsense judge ordered him to pay the minor-victim a total of P900,000 in civil indemnity, moral and exemplary damages.

Rozza grew up without a father because she was a result of a one-night stand between her lesbian mother and Jay-R Mendoza when the two met each other in a drinking session. She grew up in the care of her maternal grandmother. It was not until she was 11 years old that Jay-R Mendoza introduced himself to Rozza as her father and took her into his care and custody with the consent of her mother. His pretext was that he wanted a doctor to see Rizza and address her medical condition. Rozza has a cataract in her left eye. She also has signs of delayed mental development. Her father, Jay-R Mendoza, took Rozza to his relatives in Cavite, South of Manila and there her nightmare began. Even though she was only 11 years-old, he committed the heinous crime of incestuous child abuse when he raped her one night and then continued to do so many times after that.

When his relatives became suspicious about and how he was seemingly obsessed with her and how close he was to Rozza, he left for Manila and hid her there and then later in Bataan when people began to ask questions. All the while, he continually sexually abused her. From Bataan, he took Rozza to a far-flung village in Subic. By now Rozza was his sex slave for many years and was already convinced by Mendoza that what he was doing to her was normal. She was not allowed to go to schools to keep her isolated from others.

When Rozza turned 14 years old, she became pregnant as a result of the sexual abuse by her father. She gave birth by caesarian section to a baby girl on 2 May 2015 in San Marcelino Hospital. However, shockingly her father continued to rape her even after giving birth.

A concerned resident of the village learned about Rozza giving birth at 14 years old, without a known boyfriend, and suspected that Rozza was being abused by her father. The concerned resident informed the Preda Foundation about it. Preda immediately coordinated with the local social worker and police and organized the rescue of Rozza and her baby.

The rescue team went to the remote village on 24 May 2021 and the father was not in the house. They immediately brought the child and her baby to the Preda Home for Girls in Subic. The father, on his return, found his sex slave child missing and went to the municipal social worker who called the police and he was arrested.

Rozza was malnourished and weak and so was her baby on admission to the Preda home. She was disoriented as to what was happening. She did not know why she needed to be rescued. Her rapist-father made her believe that what he was doing to her was normal. It was the start of a long and tedious process of recovery and healing.
A few weeks after admission to the Preda home, Rozza and her baby were nursed back to health, and she was already able to smile and mingle with the other children who loved her and her baby and helped her to carry and care for him. She joined in the different activities in the Preda home like group games, singing, dancing, watching inspiring movies and joining sessions about her dignity and rights. Soon, she was playing volleyball and having fun, finding a childhood that had been stolen. She found happiness and a family that she had been deprived of all her life.

Her healing included the Preda Emotional Release Therapy that allowed her to deal with her trauma and release pent up anger and pain. Later on, she told her story to the Preda social worker and paralegal officer. She was ready to bring her rapist-father to justice.

During the trial, Rozza gave a clear and straight-forward testimony of all that he had done to her over the years that convinced Judge Gemma Theresa B. Hilario-Logronio that Jay-R Mendoza sexually raped and abused her many times and that testimony led to his conviction. There are an average of forty children in the Preda Home at any one time all with ongoing cases against their abusers. Every year, children assisted by Preda win at least 15 convictions against their abusers.

The problem is immense. Thousands of children are victims of sexual abuse every day. From 2011 to 2016, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) served a total of 7,418 victims of sexual abuse. Of this number, 2,770 are victims of incest rape, mostly aged between 14 and 17, like Rozza. But the data is far from accurate. Child sexual abuses are under-reported in the Philippines and elsewhere.

Rozza recovered from her terrible trauma and experience. The nightmares have been overcome. Preda social workers searched and found her biological mother and they were reunited. Her mother willingly takes care of Rozza and her child Juanita. She is now six years old and is in kindergarten. Preda is supporting Rozza and her child with monthly school allowance and she stays in close contact with her social worker at Preda by mobile phone. Rozza is now living a happier life of freedom and peace.

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