The successes and failures of the Philippine courts and police (Last of two parts)

By Fr. Shay Cullen

But there are many good, honest judges and brave, dedicated prosecutors working to attain justice for child victims. At the Preda Foundation’s therapeutic home in Zambales, the abused children are healed and empowered to fight for justice and file criminal complaints against their rapists and abusers. They bravely testify against them, and because of dedicated prosecutors and good judges delivering speedy justice, the children win an average of 20 convictions every year. In 2024 alone, they won 27 convictions. Most of those convicted are in jail, never to abuse other children. As for the children they had abused, they are now free from fear and exploitation.

There are great judges pursuing justice with honesty, integrity and transparency. These good, incorruptible judges never tolerate dirty deals and long postponements with lawyers of the accused that would deny justice to the child victims.

In my experience, for example, there are three good judges: Judge Maribel Mariano-Beltran of the Family Court in Iba, Zambales, Judge Gemma Theresa Hilario-Logronio of the Olongapo Family Court, and Judge Dorina Castro-Baltazar of the Bataan Family Court. They lead very efficient courts and deal with many cases of child sexual abuse and human trafficking of minors quickly and justly. Why can’t other courts do likewise?

But in other courts in Central Luzon, where children under Preda’s care are fighting for justice, long postponements are common, denying speedy justice. A judge’s delay in delivering a verdict is also due to the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) failure to investigate, find and arrest the suspects. Many accused are at large, hiding in plain sight and laughing at the incompetence of some policemen and NBI agents unable or unwilling to catch them.

The most competent, skilled and intelligent police officers should be assigned to finding and arresting suspects of child sexual abuse. Preda is offering the public P10,000 as a reward for information leading to the arrest of any of the 10 suspected child abusers listed on the Preda website (www.preda.org/wanted-list).

One suspect is Ralp Fael Lucas, 40, a teacher at Ilalim Elementary School in Olongapo City, who is wanted for multiple counts of lascivious conduct and statutory rape committed against a student who was 11 when the alleged crimes took place.

The student, Joy (not her real name), was assisted by Preda to file complaints against Lucas with the Office of the Olongapo City Prosecutor on Sept. 20, 2023. The investigating city prosecutor, Mirriam Esguerra, found probable cause to charge Lucas with 29 counts of acts of lasciviousness in relation to Republic Act 7610 and two counts of rape under Article 266-A(1) of the Revised Penal Code, as amended. The cases are now filed with the Olongapo City Family Court but are not moving forward because Lucas has gone into hiding. The child still wants justice, and the cases should not be dismissed and added to the 900,000 still unresolved, according to the Supreme Court order.

If the police are deserving of their salaries, they ought to search for and arrest Lucas, who, like hundreds of other accused child abusers with arrest warrants, is hiding with relatives, either in the provinces or abroad. They need to bring him and other fugitives to justice. That’s the only way to curb child sexual abuse, both in the Church and in society, and defend the victims, not the abusers.

This column was first published in The Sunday Times on November 24, 2024. This was republished in Daily Guardian with consent from the author.