Preda Responds to the Pandemic; Services Remain Uninterrupted

Preda Responds to the Pandemic; Services Remain Uninterrupted

Last May 19, 2021 Francis B. Bermido Jr, president of the Preda Foundation, was invited to a virtual side event of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking (UNVTF) titled “Frontline Impact and Innovation: Grassroots Responses to Women and Girl Victims of Human Trafficking in Transitioning Beyond COVID-19 and presented the Preda program providing direct assistance to victims of sexual abuse and trafficking and the innovative approaches that Preda employed in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his presentation, Mr. Bermido said that there are 47 children in the Preda therapeutic home, the youngest only six years old, and all receive a holistic range of bio-psycho-social services designed to restore their social functioning. These services start from the time the children are rescued from abuse and exploitation and extends to when they are reintegrated.

Preda ensures that the education of the children is not disrupted. They are enrolled either in a formal school or in the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System. In the time of the pandemic, the children who were enrolled in formal school continue their schooling by studying the modules given by the teachers. Preda staff provide additional support. There are various recreational activities in the Preda therapeutic home- in recognition of the children’s right to play and leisure- and also in order to ease the boredom that may be brought by the lockdown. Older girls are also taught cookery and bread and pastry-making, and, if and when they are interested, welding and driving.

The primary therapeutic tool employed by Preda is called emotional release therapy. It allows the child-victims to freely express their buried pain and anger and enables them to cope, become emotionally free and capable of telling their story with conviction and credibility, which has led to the successful prosecutions of abusers and traffickers.

Providing legal assistance is an integral component of the Preda program. All too often, in society, victims are told to forgive their abusers and just move on. Victims do not get help and abusers and traffickers continue to abuse many more children. At Preda, children are taught that justice comes first before forgiveness. This means bringing abusers and traffickers to trial and making them accountable for their crimes. Preda installed Internet connections in its homes for children to enable attendance in online hearings or video-conferencing. According to Mr. Bermido, every year the children assisted by Preda achieve an average 15 convictions, a significant feat given the tedious judicial process in the Philippines.

When a child has recovered and when there is no more threat to her safety in the community, she is reintegrated to her nearest and supportive family or relatives. Preda continues to monitor their situation and provides educational assistance so they remain in school.

In 2020, when the pandemic struck, the Preda program became even more vital as incidents of child abuse and exploitation increased and several homes for children postponed admitting new clients for fear of COVID. In response, Preda designated a quarantine room where new admissions stay for up to 14 days to prevent the entry of COVID-19 into the Home. New admissions were given the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) that detects the presence/absence of the antigen that causes COVID-19. Even when the RAT yields a negative result, new admissions still have to undergo quarantine albeit for a shorter period.

Preda arranged a private shuttle to pick up staff so they don’t have to take public transport, minimizing the risk of COVID-19 infection. The staff schedule was revised so they report for work for longer hours but fewer days. Significantly, all staff have had their two shots of COVID-19 vaccines.

In ending, Mr. Bermido called for the strict enforcement of the anti-child pornography law that mandates Internet Service Providers to install blocking software and for raising the age of sexual consent in the Philippines from 12 years to 16 years. If implemented, these two actions will protect thousands of Filipino children from abuse and exploitation.

The same project mentioned above is also supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Partnership for Development Assistance in the Philippines (PDAP).