The love, care, protection, and well-being of children is a top priority for any loving parent anywhere. Most parents will do all they can to ensure that their children are cared for, protected, educated, and kept healthy. This is especially true in the Philippines.
But even in the Philippines, children are not free from facing all sorts of dangers, especially the more hidden and insidious ones. In a report titled “Situation Analysis of Children in the Philippines,” the United Nations Children’s Fund said eight in 10 children have experienced some form of violence, including physical, psychological, sexual, or online abuse. And one in every four experienced sexual abuse and violence, it added.
These numbers are really shocking, and the fact that child abuse is mostly ignored, covered up, or denied is even more so. Children are not always believed when they tell of being abused. They are even threatened with punishment if they ever claim that. The failure of adults to believe and report child sexual abuse should be regarded as aiding and abetting a serious crime.
Mothers who learn that their child is abused, especially if the abuser is her husband, live-in partner, or father, are frequently not supportive of their offspring. This is more suffering inflicted on the abused child and could be a criminal offense under Section 10 (a) of Republic Act (RA) 7610, or “Other Acts of Neglect, Abuse, Cruelty or Exploitation and Other Conditions Prejudicial to the Child’s Development.”
When mothers and relatives muster the courage to report the abuse and trafficking of a child, there is a chance to attain justice. But due to the current court system, where there is a huge backlog that the Supreme Court is attempting to remedy, child-abuse cases can take many years to reach a judgment.
In their collective wisdom and desire for “speedy justice” and to expedite criminal trials, the Supreme Court introduced the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of Criminal Cases in 2017. This was to reform these tortoise-paced trials and ensure the “speedy disposition of cases.”
However, these reforms have not resulted in continuous hearings. Most courts strive to meet deadlines in each case, like reaching a deadline to have a pretrial, trial proper, and timetable for decision-making or promulgation. But what is needed is to hold continuous court hearings—daily or weekly—and finish each case within a reasonable time frame. At present, some trials proceed at a leisurely pace. Some judges even approve and allow defense or prosecution lawyers constant postponements, and others are taking more than three years to resolve a child-abuse case.
Postponements favor the defense attorney, and even a private prosecutor can benefit personally. They earn more money for every hearing, so the more postponements there are, the better.
Although RA 9285, or the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004, allows out-of-court settlements, it does not cover child rape cases—and rightfully so. What child-victims want above all is justice and closure, not money, which goes to the parents or relatives, anyway.
Winning postponements are also tactics used by the defense to wear down the child seeking justice and persuade her (or him) to settle by withdrawing her (or his) complaint or take a payoff outside the court. Either way, it’s a travesty and mockery of justice.
Children take days to build up their determination and courage to prepare themselves to testify, only to feel deeply hurt and cry and throw tantrums when they hear the accommodating judge allow yet another postponement. The delay in hearings could take weeks or even months. The child has to remain separated from her or his family, especially if the judge granted bail to her or his alleged abuser.
Corruption-free, speedy justice is what is needed in greater measure. We need the approval and appointment of many more judges, and the implementation of the guidelines of the Supreme Court can help. The court system needs reform, and legislation is urgently needed to establish a children’s court. Sen. Risa Hontiveros has promised to study and bring forward such legislation.
A children’s court would exclusively hear all cases involving child abuse and children in conflict with the law, and hold continuous hearings. Judges and prosecutors would have special training in child-protection laws. At present, our family courts are so clogged that having a children’s court is necessary.
Not all courts move at a glacially slow pace. Despite a clogged court calendar, speedy justice can be done, as shown in recent cases that saw abused children receive justice in the courts of Judge Maribel Mariano-Beltran in Iba, Zambales, and Judge Gemma Theresa Hilario-Logronio in Olongapo City. Many speedy trials are already completed, and numerous convictions of child abusers have been handed down.
Child sexual abuse is traumatic. It damages and haunts its victims, no matter how deeply they bury it within themselves or try to banish it from their memory. Without healing therapy, it can lead to mental health issues that can cause some teenagers to turn to painkilling drugs.
Other victims who were denied justice could turn their pain and suffering into anger and even hatred, becoming violent, disruptive, and vengeful. A few could even take violent revenge against their abusers once they become adults. All of this can happen because the trauma caused by childhood sexual abuse is not treated, and victims get no help and are denied justice.
This is the greatest pain of all: failure of the abused child’s family and society to acknowledge the injustice, hurt, fear, and humiliation caused by the abuser. And because of a dysfunctional judicial system that denies many abused children the right to enjoy justice and a life of freedom, their lives can become one continuous, unresolved trauma.
Note: Any original information, stories, or news articles posted on this site that are authored by the Preda Foundation and Father Shay Cullen may be shared, copied, or reproduced without further permission, in support of truth, freedom of expression, and the public’s right to know.
LiCAS News was granted permission to republish and adapt this article by Father Shay Cullen in the spirit of truth-telling and the pursuit of justice.
Irish missionary Father Shay Cullen, SSC, founded the Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in 1974 to promote human rights and the rights of children, especially victims of sexual abuse.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of LiCAS News.
