The People's Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance Foundation, commonly referred to as the PREDA Foundation or PREDA, is a charitable organization that was founded in
Olongapo City
Olongapo, officially the City of Olongapo ( fil, Lungsod ng Olongapo; ilo, Siudad ti Olongapo; xsb, Siyodad nin Olongapo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Located in the province of Zambal ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
in 1974. Its purposes include the promotion and protection of the dignity and the Human Rights of the Filipino people, especially of women and children. The main focus is to assist the sexually-exploited and abused children.
History
Father
Shay Cullen
Father Shay Cullen (born 27 March 1943) is an Irish missionary priest and the founder of the PREDA Foundation. He is a member of the Columbans, an Irish order founded in honour of and named after St. Columba (St. Columcille), the 6th. Centuary Ir ...
is a Catholic missionary priest from
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, a member of the
Missionary Society of St. Columban
The Missionary Society of St. Columban ( la, Societas Sancti Columbani pro Missionibus ad Exteros) (abbreviated as S.S.C.M.E. or SSC), commonly known as the Columbans, is a missionary Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right foun ...
. He helped found the charity in 1974 along with Alex Corpus Hermoso and Merly Ramirez. Since then, Fr. Shay Cullen has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize twice.
Preda Foundation and Fr. Shay Cullen were awarded the prestigious Human Rights Award from the City of
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
In 2012, the PREDA Foundation spoke out about the case of the 52,000
Amerasians in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, the children from soldiers of the US Army settlements in the country who did not get legal recognition of their origins from their own government.
Description
The Preda Foundation is licensed and accredited by the Philippine government.
[CRIN – Child Rights Information Network – Organisations – Preda Foundation](_blank)
/ref> The Preda Foundation is dedicated to the protection of children and working for social transformation and a just and corrupt free society. It has worked to prevent children being locked in small, cramped jails without basic rights. Preda has been actively involved in helping victims of the human trafficking and sex slave trade in the Angeles City. Preda has been involved in promoting and defending the Rights of Children and their Defenders. Preda cooperates closely with international legal tribunals Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
and the UN Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of ...
.
The PREDA Foundation provides rescue, treatment and recovery for sexually and physically abused children. It investigates and prosecutes abusers, to prevent and protect children and youth against child abuse, substance abuse and AIDS. The foundation helps families in being self-reliant, promotes livelihood training and employment with just wages by providing capital, interest free loans, technical assistance to producers and markets through the Fair Trade Movement and the commercial market. The foundation also works with media to develop public awareness and protect children.
Preda projects
* Childhood For Children: Rescues Children and youth from brothels and domestic abuse. Rescues children from sexual abusive situations in home or in the streets and brothels. It has helped law enforcement agencies in the detection, arrest and criminal prosecution of those involved in these crimes.
* Legal Services: free legal services for children that have been accused of crime. They also provide research and legal assistance in the prosecution of their abusers.
* Rescue Every Child Today (REACT): Responsible for visits to jails and works on the cases of children in conflict with the Law. The REACT project provides a residential center with therapeutic activities, trainings, non-formal education and legal assistance.
* Street Child Education Early Kontact and Outreach (SEEKOUT): Helps street children that are in dire circumstances by providing help through fresh food, clothes, learning and legal assistance.
* Public Education and Preventive Seminars (PEPS): Provides specialized workshops and training seminars for the prevention of child abuse, drug abuse and the HIV-AIDS by using handouts, posters, video showing and direct people participation.
* Special Human Rights Education and Lobbying (SHARE): A project directed to the Barangay communities, college business on child protection and legal procedures in child abuse cases.
* Research, Advocacy, Information and Networking (RAIN): dissemination through articles, pamphlets, newsletters, public speaking engagements, global awareness building in the Philippines and abroad, through media (radio and TV), and working with journalists and broadcasters.
* Indigenous Peoples Assistance Community Training (IMPACT):
**helping organize Indigenous People's leaders for dialogue and community action for environmental protection and development.
**establishes tree nurseries and provides a least a thousand (2 meter tall) saplings yearly planted by the Indigenous people and volunteers. There are special scholarships for the youth of the 3 communities participating in the project.
* Youth Organising and Empowerment Training and Theatre training production (AKBAY): Training in social and family values, leadership training and character formation through seminars, workshops, summer camps, and social projects done by the youth.
* Scholarship for Youth (SCHOLAR): Providing specialised education in nursing assistance, social work, and computer training for disadvantaged youth. The Computer training course is conducted at the Preda computer laboratory with 20 units. The course is certified by TESDA and Microsoft through the LEARN Foundation.
* Internet Safety Campaign (INSEC): National and International safety advocacy campaigns for Internet safety.
* Fair Trading: This is a nationwide project assisting 26 village and urban based production groups making quality handicraft items that are exported by Preda. The project practices the Fair trade criteria and gives interest free production loans, development loans and access to export markets. Village infrastructure projects (clean water systems, land purchase) product design and other family services are provided.
* Tetra Bag Project: The Preda recycling project turned the hundreds of thousands of throwaway aluminum foil pouches into raw material for lucrative livelihood projects for abandoned mothers, survivors of sexual exploitation, youth rescued from prisons, students, and dozens of waste paper collectors and out of work sewers.
Fil-American children
Preda has been highly active in the cause of helping Fil-American Children. Preda Social workers organized the association of 720 mother of Fil-American children, provided family research assistance and helping to pursue a class action suit in the US court of complaints in Washington D.C. on behalf of the children in 1993.
Preda visited and lobbied the US congress and State Department and succeeded in advancing a US congressional resolution assigning $650,000 for the FilAm children through US AID and other agencies.
Campaign against pedophiles and human trafficking
Preda has been highly active in the Philippines in a campaign against pedophiles and human trafficking.
The Preda Human Rights team lobbied successfully for the passing of the Olongapo City Anti-Prostitution Ordinance #51. In March, 2008, Preda organized a march from the Olongapo City hall with banners and placards to the gate of the former United States Military base and held a rally calling for the implementation of the law and for the city government to cancel permits given to sex bars and clubs. This was a historic first. Never was there such a public protest allowed on the streets before. Preda have been actively involved in the fight against the child sex slavery
Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a s ...
trade in the notorious pedophile haunt of Angeles. Working undercover with law enforcement agencies and volunteers, with the help of hidden cameras, they have uncovered bars trafficking children for prostitution in Angeles.
Threats and harassment against PREDA staff
PREDA staffers receive threats from pedophiles and their sympathizers in the sex tourist industry. The staff are continually harassed with false charges and smear campaigns to prevent them pursuing justice for victims of sexual abuse. As a result, PREDA works for the implementation of the UN Declaration of 1998 protecting the defenders of human rights against such abuse.
When Father Shay Cullen exposed a child prostitution ring in Subic Bay he was threatened with deportation.
Awards and nominations
*Nobel Peace Prize Nomination: On October 3, 2002, Canadian MP Hon. David Kilgour
David William Kilgour (February 18, 1941 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian human rights activist, author, lawyer, and politician. He was also a Senior Fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
Kilgour graduated from the Universi ...
of Edmonton Southeast nominated Fr. Shay for the Award.
*Nobel Nomination 2003: Christa Nickels, German MP nominated Fr. Shay for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.
*In 2003, Fr. Shay was awarded the first Prix Caritas by Caritas Switzerland. Awarded to Preda in honour of its initiatives and extraordinary engagement for children in need.
*A film about children's rights campaigner, Fr Shay Cullen has been won the Radharc Award 2004. Entitled 'Fr Shay Cullen: Taking a Stand' and produced by Annette Kinne Andec Communications, the documentary was filmed on location in the Philippines, Germany, Britain and Ireland.
*BETINHO PRIZE. Preda was shortlisted for the 2000 Association for Progressive Communications (APC) Betinho Communications Prize because of their website preda.org and the use of the internet for human rights campaign.Preda Foundation, Inc. - AWARDS TO PREDA, FR. SHAY
*On September 13, 2008, FR. Shay Cullen and PREDA was awarded the International Person Of The Year Award in Dublin, Ireland.
*On October 9, 2008, Fr. Shay Cullen was awarded the International Solidarity Prize by the Prestigious World Medical Child Care Associations.
*Fr. Shay Cullen was honoured with the Humanitarian Award at the 2009 Meteor Ireland Music Awards.
References
External links
Speech by Fr Shay Cullen on the Sexual Abuse of Children at The International Solidarity Prize 2008Presentation on Crin.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preda Foundation
Anti-prostitution activism
Human trafficking in the Philippines
Organizations that combat human trafficking
Child-related organizations in the Philippines
Organizations established in 1974
1974 establishments in the Philippines
Charities based in the Philippines