Fifty-two years of healing and justice for abused and empowered children

By Fr. Shay Cullen

February 2026 marked 52 years since the establishment of the Preda Foundation, a charitable organization aimed at helping children in conflict with the law, street children, children at risk, and child abuse victims/survivors. We should never underestimate the desire and determination of children to fight for their rights and demand justice. Today in the Philippines, there are many judges who are friendly to children and understand how they were sexually abused and exploited, and can know when a child is telling the truth. When given protection, support and healing, many children feel empowered at Preda’s home for abused children, where they find the courage to fight for justice and win. Let us celebrate two of them, whose names have been changed here.

Angie was just 12 years old and living with her family in New Banicain, Olongapo City, when her mother’s cousin gave in to his evil desires. He took Angie to an isolated place one night and raped her. Despite the shocking crime and the warning not to tell anyone, the girl had the courage to tell her mother, who believed and supported her, as good mothers should. A city social worker referred Angie to the Preda home. There, she was protected from the rapist and his relatives. She was welcomed, found friends, and voluntarily joined the foundation’s emotional release therapy. She eventually recovered from her trauma and became determined to get justice. Preda social workers helped her file her case, and on Feb. 24, justice was served. In the Olongapo Family Court, Judge Melani Fay V. Tadili found Angie’s rapist guilty of acts of lasciviousness and rape and sentenced him to life in prison. He was also ordered to pay her P20,000 in civil damages. Angie is now happily back with her family and continues to be supported in school through Preda’s aftercare program.

Another girl helped by Preda is Maria, 14, who lived with her brothers and sister in Zambales. On Dec. 6, 2022, Maria was sexually abused by Marwin Salamo, her sister’s husband. She showed courage by not giving in to the threats against her and her family. She disclosed the abuse, and her family immediately took action against the abuser. The municipal social worker of San Narciso was informed about Maria’s case and brought her to Preda for protection. There, with support and counselling, she overcame her trauma and became determined to file her case against Salamo. His relatives pressured Maria’s mother to get her daughter to withdraw her complaint. Maria was distressed by that, but she overcame that, too, with therapy at Preda. She refused to withdraw. At the Olongapo City Family Court on Feb. 24, Judge Tadili pronounced Salamo guilty of sexual assault and sentenced him to several years in prison.

These girls’ legal victories were made possible by the empowerment and healing offered at the Preda home for abused children. In 1996, Preda opened another home for sexually abused and abandoned children rescued from sex bars and brothels, and from domestic sexual abuse in Olongapo City. This was later transferred to a nature reserve, surrounded by mountains and forests, in Pamatawan, Subic. The foundation successfully campaigned for new laws to protect children and attain justice for them. But due to the backlog and overload of cases in family courts, the resolution of child abuse cases has been delayed too long.

SPECIAL CHILDREN’S COURT

As a child rights’ campaign organization, the Preda Foundation has petitioned the Supreme Court to establish a special children’s court in each region. In such a court, there will be continuous hearings with no postponements. At present, some dodgy judges, with no love for justice except allegedly for generous considerations, allow endless postponements in child abuse cases for years to cause witness fatigue and compel the victims to give up. As a result, cases are dismissed and the rapists go free. A bent judge may missend subpoenas so the victim does not attend the hearing and the judge promptly dismisses the case against the rapist. This happened to one of our Preda children recently. We will protest and appeal it to the court administrator yet again, then go public and denounce the practice.

In the Preda home for girls, there are 13 staff members, including social workers, therapists and facilitators, implementing legal action, letting the girls undergo therapy and helping them recover. Eighty-three children were admitted in 2025 alone. The home’s therapeutic program helps and empowers the children, and they were able to testify against their abusers and have them convicted. The number of convictions made possible by good and true judges in 2024 was 24. Despite the trauma they suffered, the children, now recovered, go to school and earn high grades.

Preda’s home for children at risk is in a beautiful farm in Nagbayan, Castillejos, Zambales. This home is for street children aged 15 and younger. They have no legal case but need guidance and support. It was started in Olongapo City in 1974 and later moved to Nagbayan. It now has a team of nine composed of therapists, facilitators and social workers. In 2025, 64 boys were given assistance to overcome childhood traumas via the emotional release therapy. They had value formation and formal and informal learning by the Preda team. There are currently 27 boys in the Preda home training program.

The Preda home for boys in Cebu, which opened in 2018, is located by the sea. There, the boys can swim, play basketball, and overcome their many problems in a supportive setting. The home is very successful for young people aged 15 and older who were brought there from Operation Second Chance and other government-run detention centers. They are referred to Preda by judges. There is an average of 40 boys in the home in 2025. The program has the trust of judges in Cebu, as it is able to keep 90 percent of the boys in care with few escapees, although the Preda home is an open center, not a prison. It has a positive, friendly atmosphere and family-like culture. Many of the boys have successfully passed their alternative learning system examinations. With trained therapists and emotional release therapy, they are able to express the pent-up anger and frustration they feel from what they suffered. Once free of that burden and healed, their cases are dismissed. They are released by the judge and their record is expunged. They can start a new life, are reintegrated into their respective families, and continue to get help through the Preda aftercare program.

Preda hopes to set up a home for abused girls in Cebu and is looking for a farm lot in a secluded area of about 2.5 hectares in the Liloan-Danao area. If anyone is aware of a suitable land area, please contact Preda Foundation President Francis Bermido Jr. at fbermido@gmail.com.