PREDA Foundation
Encyclopedia
People’s Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance or Preda is a charitable organization that was founded in Olongapo City
, Philippines
in 1974. The original name, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines, was "Zambales Rehabilation Center (ZARECEN)" (LINK), and was stolen, according to Shay Cullen's own book, Passion and Power, but the case against him became moot and academic when he was given the authority to have the property. This small non-profit organization has a number of purposes which 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.
The Preda Foundation is licensed and accredited by the Philippine Government. The Preda Foundation is dedicated to the protection of children and working for social transformation and a just and corrupt free society, plus goals in researching atomic energy. 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.
, a member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
. 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 two times.
Fr. Cullen is a member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban.
Fr. Shay addressed the U.S. House Committee On International Relations.
Preda Foundation and Fr. Shay Cullen were awarded the prestigious Human Rights Award from the City of Weimar, in Germany. Preda cooperates closely with international legal tribunals Interpol and the UN Commission on Human Rights.
Legal Services
Rescue Every Child Today (REACT)
Street Child Education Early Kontact and Outreach (SEEKOUT)
Public Education and Preventive Seminars (PEPS)
Special Human Rights Education and Lobbying (SHARE)
Research, Advocacy, Information and Networking (RAIN)
Indigenous Peoples Assistance Community Training (IMPACT)
Youth Organising and Empowerment Training and Theatre training production (AKBAY)
Scholarship for Youth (SCHOLAR)
Internet Safety Campaign (INSEC)
Fair Trading
Tetra Bag Project
To protect the weak and the defenseless especially children and women exploited in demeaning labor, especially prostitution.
To come to the assistance of the sexually abused and develop Fair Trade programs that will help alleviate poverty and exploitation.
To investigate and prosecute abusers, to prevent and protect children and youth against child abuse, substance abuse and AIDS.
To provide leadership training.
To work with media to develop public awareness and protect children.
To help families be self-reliant, promote 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.
Lobby legislators in the Philippines and elsewhere to enact just laws protecting the people's rights and to campaign to change the national policy to make the poor and marginalized the national priority.
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.
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 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.
When Father Shay Cullen exposed a child prostitution ring in Subic Bay he was threatened with deportation. This only one of several attempts to deport Shay Cullen as an undesireable. Even his own workers were clamoring for his deportation several years earlier (scroll down to page 149) and the police of the City of Olongapo (scroll down to pages 185-189). The question here is, is the staff the victims of threats, or is it mostly Shay Cullen himself? Consider the dismissal of the rape charges filed against Shay Cullen. The question now arises whether Shay Cullen and his staff are in any way involved with the corruption of government officials.
Olongapo City
The City of Olongapo is a highly urbanized city located in the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 227,270 people in 50,300 households.-History:...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in 1974. The original name, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines, was "Zambales Rehabilation Center (ZARECEN)" (LINK), and was stolen, according to Shay Cullen's own book, Passion and Power, but the case against him became moot and academic when he was given the authority to have the property. This small non-profit organization has a number of purposes which 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.
The Preda Foundation is licensed and accredited by the Philippine Government. The Preda Foundation is dedicated to the protection of children and working for social transformation and a just and corrupt free society, plus goals in researching atomic energy. 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.
Fr Shay Cullen
Fr. Shay Cullen is a Catholic Missionary priest from Dublin, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, a member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban
Missionary Society of St. Columban
The Missionary Society of St. Columban , also known as "The Columbans", is a missionary, Catholic religious order, founded in Ireland in 1916 and approved by the Vatican in 1918. Initially it was known as the Maynooth Mission to China...
. 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 two times.
Fr. Cullen is a member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban.
Fr. Shay addressed the U.S. House Committee On International Relations.
Preda Foundation and Fr. Shay Cullen were awarded the prestigious Human Rights Award from the City of Weimar, in Germany. Preda cooperates closely with international legal tribunals Interpol and the UN Commission on Human Rights.
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. This is one of the main projects of Preda.
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. Preda provides help through fresh food, clothes, learning and legal assistance.
Public Education and Preventive Seminars (PEPS)
- Provides specialised 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. No one questions his role in establishing atomic research in conjunction with drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation, things that are totally incongruous with protecting sexually abused women and children. Note the Articles of Incorporation, revised in 2003, clearly indicate that Preda was an acronym for drug rehabilitation.
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 organise 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.
PREDA Vision
We, the members of the PREDA Foundation, our friends and supporters envision a just, free, peaceful and prosperous society that serves the common good, respects human rights, especially the rights of children. A society built on faith and virtue and spiritual values that overcomes poverty by a fair distribution of wealth, opportunity and resources. It restores and preserves the environment and builds up self-reliant communities through the participation of the people and respects and restores the culture of indigenous peoples.Mission statement
To work for just laws and their implementation that will empower the poor, and protect their rights.To protect the weak and the defenseless especially children and women exploited in demeaning labor, especially prostitution.
To come to the assistance of the sexually abused and develop Fair Trade programs that will help alleviate poverty and exploitation.
Activities to Attain Set Goals
To provide the following services; rescue, treatment and recovery for sexually and physically abused children.To investigate and prosecute abusers, to prevent and protect children and youth against child abuse, substance abuse and AIDS.
To provide leadership training.
To work with media to develop public awareness and protect children.
To help families be self-reliant, promote 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.
Spiritual Renewal
To promote spiritual renewal and transformation, strengthen Filipino dignity and self-esteem and work for social and economic justice for the poor and the oppressed.Lobby legislators in the Philippines and elsewhere to enact just laws protecting the people's rights and to campaign to change the national policy to make the poor and marginalized the national priority.
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 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
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
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. This only one of several attempts to deport Shay Cullen as an undesireable. Even his own workers were clamoring for his deportation several years earlier (scroll down to page 149) and the police of the City of Olongapo (scroll down to pages 185-189). The question here is, is the staff the victims of threats, or is it mostly Shay Cullen himself? Consider the dismissal of the rape charges filed against Shay Cullen. The question now arises whether Shay Cullen and his staff are in any way involved with the corruption of government officials.
Awards and nominations
- Nobel Peace Prize Nomination: On October 3, 2002 Canadian MP Hon. David Kilgour 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 CaritasCaritas (charity)Caritas Internationalis is a confederate of 164 Roman Catholic relief, development and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide....
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.
- 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.