In This Issue:
The Builder Dad Watch
Real Men Champions of Children
You’re the Man! Nurturing and Protecting the Family— a Man’s Job Gadgets & Gizmos Cyber-Flesh Trade The Gym Cut and Fill
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke
The Builder
Dad Watch: Protecting Your Family against Human Traffickers
by Revodem Avarientos
T
he threat of human trafficking here in the Philippines is real but we can take precautionary measures to protect our loved ones. Here are things that we should be aware of:
1. Too good to be true promises. A human trafficker often victimizes people who are desperate to get out of poverty. If someone is offering you or a family member an easy way to get a job overseas with a big salary, better make a background check first and see if it comes from a reputable agency and if it is registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs. 2. Be mindful of strangers. Instruct your children never to take food from strangers. Better yet, instruct them never to talk to strangers at all. Teach them to get the attention of a known adult immediately when a stranger talks to them.
3. Always accompany your kids. When going to malls or public places, make sure that you never let your kids out of your sight, especially in comfort rooms. There are syndicates who kidnap kids inside restrooms by drugging them, shaving their heads, and changing their clothes so they look different. 4. Be ever vigilant in public places. Be proactive. Always look for out of the ordinary things and report them immediately.
5. Check what your kids are doing on the internet. Know what websites they are accessing. There are programs which allow you to control or monitor their activities while they are using the internet. Be aware of the people they meet in their social networks. 6. Love your family. People who run away from home, especially young women, are the most vulnerable to the ploys of these syndicates.
7. Pray for your family. We can never protect them all the time. In our daily quiet time, we should always ask God to protect our family from the schemes of the evil one.
Real Men
Champions of Children Interview with Roberto “Obet” Awa-ao by Alvin Eleazar G. Tud Mr. Roberto “Obet” Awa-ao is the Coordinator of Project Rhoda, an action group of the Philippine Children’s Ministries Network. Rhoda is a network of faith-based organizations championing the cause of domestic child workers, who are often the victims of abuse and human trafficking.
C
an you give us a glimpse of human trafficking in the Philippines?
In a public high school in Manila, people noticed that a van would park near the school often at 6:00 pm. Female students would get into the van after class. The van would leave and return to the same spot between 12 midnight and 1:00 a.m. Later, the authorities found out that this was sex trafficking of teenagers. However, it’s sad that the parents knew about their daughters’ activity and in fact, get their living from it. In Zamboanga City, they recruited a 16-year old girl to work as a domestic helper in Manila. She did not get paid for six months. She was beaten and electrocuted for accidentally breaking some things. She had cigarette burns in her arms and stomach. Human traffickers sometimes go to churches and exploit the kindness and ignorance of people. They pose as job recruiters. In Samar, they recruited a 15-year old girl who practically grew up in church. She ended up in a brothel. She survived and she returned home. These are just a few cases of human trafficking. What does Rhoda Network do to fight human trafficking?
As an action group of Philippine Children’s Ministries Network, we conduct Life Skills Module (LSM) trainings in churches and schools to raise the self-protective skills of youth and children and to reduce their vulnerability to abuse. In 2012, we launched the FREEDOM Campaign (Fight of the Righteous to Eradicate Evils that Oppresses Mankind), where we highlighted the issues of child domestic labor. We dialogued with Christian leaders, celebrities, professionals, reached 5,000 students, trained trainers and helped form CYAN (Children & Youth Advocate Network), a youth-led organization that provides “peer to peer” learning. We supported the passing of Batas Kasambahay. Our main advocacy is the child-domestic workers who are often the victim of abuse. Whether a child was forced to work or
not, if she was deceived and placed in deplorable working conditions, this is still a case of human trafficking.
Why do people involve themselves in this illegal and immoral activity? Poverty, ignorance and wrong values are the main reasons why people get involved in this activity. The recruiters, (head hunters) are mostly women. They get paid for every recruit. In some areas, we were told that some parents sell their daughters for two sacks of rice and a box of sardines. There were those who were sold to sex slavery and later, were able to return to their hometowns and build their houses. So others think it is okay, because they get rich. They now become the pimp. The “victim becomes the victimizer…” Recently, in the national peer-to-peer conference led by AntiSlavery International and Visayan Forum, we realized that the main problem is dysfunctional families and fathers. Ang problema talaga ay kabuhayan at values ng pamilya. What should the fathers do to fight human trafficking?
Kailangan ‘yung tatay maging ama sa kaniyang pamilya. Panindigan nya ang pagiging lalaki at guardian ng family. He should provide for his family. Huwag siyang mahiya na makitang nakaluhod at nananalangin…mahiya siya ‘pag nakita siyang nakaluhod sa kalasingan. May kilala akong tatay, kargador sa Divisoria pero pinagsikapan nyang makapagkolehiyo ang mga anak nya. Ang transformed na tatay hindi ipapamana ang kaniyang pagiging mahirap sa kaniyang mga anak. Bumaba man ang kaso ng human trafficking hindi tayo dapat makampante, libu-libo pa rin ang nabibiktima. Awareness should not only prevent one from becoming a victim but it should also transform a person. Kailangan bumalik sa panuntunan ng Diyos. Kung may takot at pananampalataya ka, hindi mo ibebenta ang iyong anak.
You’re The Man!
Nurturing and Protecting the Family—a MAN’s Job
by Kim Snider
T
wenty years ago our son, 14, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s’ lymphoma, a form of curable cancer. I had taken Mark to the doctor believing he had flu; the cancer diagnosis was a complete shock! I remember thinking, “I have to find my husband; my son needs his father.” In reality, there was nothing my husband could do about the cancer; yet, both Mark and I knew that his father would take care of us somehow. And, that is God’s plan for men—to care for and protect their families. The whole Bible is a description of fatherhood. The Old Testament relates how God cares for and provides for His children. In the New Testament, Jesus shows and tells everyone what the Heavenly Father is like. These analogies make it clear that fatherhood is a very serious job. The first role of a father is to provide for their family. The scriptures (2 Co 12: 14) say “…children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.” The father is tasked with providing the necessities of life for his family. His second task is to nurture his family so that each one can fulfill their life’s purpose. Proverbs 22: 6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go…” Fathers, with the help of the Holy Spirit, can guide their children into making right choices for their lives. Finally, fathers must discipline their children without cruelty. “Fathers, do not exasperate your children, instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”(Eph 6:4) The careful discipline of loving fathers protects children from living a foolish life. It enables them to be responsible parents themselves. The country of the Philippines is at the crossroads. Material progress is pushing our children out of our homes and into the city and even abroad. Our country’s values are being shaken and our children are forgetting who they really are. I am convinced that godly, responsible Filipino men can anchor their families and guide this nation into a bright future.
Gadgets & Gizmos
Cyber-Flesh Trade
by Rone Dollesin
A
peak performance guru said, “Nothing gets better until we admit there’s something wrong.” The internet, as helpful as it has been in bringing our lives to an entirely different level of communication and information, has a negative side. Internet is being used for human trafficking. There are a number group pages actively operating, and equipped with video chat applications that serve as cyber-meeting rooms. Different kinds of people meet here, some are wealthy but bored students, others are financially needy single moms, or out-of school youth offering sex to potential clients. Many times these chats lead to “eyeballing” (face to face meetings) which, most of the time, lead to kidnapping and sex-trafficking. Some use social networking sites to post pictures of children and teens to lure potential pedophiles. Although these cyber crimes were exposed by a TV network late last year, these websites continue to operate. In some places, there are internet shops with private booths for sex-chat and web-cam shows. Children and teenagers are the most vulnerable victims of these websites. To deal with this issue, different organizations have set up web pages that are dedicated to opposing illegal trafficking of children and women. For instance, the Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women (TWMAEW) tries to address the issue by doing outreach efforts to the victims on their site of work itself – the so called sex tourism hotspots. They offer alternative means to generate income, provide skills and programs so that the victims can re-structure their lifestyles. Other organizations like the International Justice Mission, Visayan Forum, Philippine Christian Ministries Network, and others, which you can find on the net, advocate awareness and fight against human trafficking of women and children in the Philippines. Law enforcement agencies also use the net to track down organizations and individuals involved in human trafficking. How can you protect your kids from human trafficking? Check what your kids are
Continued at the back
The Gym
Cut and Fill
“G
arbage in, garbage out” is a computer processing cliché similar to how our minds work. What we feed our minds is manifested in what we do and say. Consciously and unconsciously, good and bad things have been stored in our minds since childhood. As an adult, can we still change these thought patterns that dictate our behavior? Impure thoughts pervade our minds from what we read, see, hear, feel, and experience. All kinds of information abound in the internet, print media, TV, movies, radio and the music that we listen to. We are also flooded with information from people from all sorts of places: the sari-sari store, barber shop, the office, and elsewhere. Jesus taught that it would be better for us not to have a part of our body, say the eye or hand, if that part would cause us to sin. If we follow this literally, most of us would have no eyes and hands. A man I know closes his eyes and quickly flips through pages of magazines to avoid pictures that could cause him to entertain lustful thoughts that might linger for a week or so. As we obey God, He enables us to close the
by Jessie C. Felizardo door on impure thoughts that may come in. However, this requires discipline, determination, and a commitment to avoid questionable places, websites, and materials. We need to proactively fill our minds little by little with what is “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8). We are commanded to read and meditate on God’s Word day and night. Good books, music, movies, websites, even hobbies can be great sources of nourishment, while we learn new things. Imagine our mind like a crystal glass filled with murky water. If this glass is put under clean running water, the impure and dark water will lighten as it continuously overflows. Feeding our minds with wholesome thoughts must become a daily habit. To see how we progress, watch what we do and what naturally comes out of our mouth. Our minds are renewed when we cut off the source of filthy thoughts. We must then fill our minds with wholesome thoughts as God enlightens us, so we can be better people ready to do good works.
Cyber-Flesh Trade, continuation
visiting on the net. Use applications that block pornographic and harmful sites. Be proactive: learn and help fight against trafficking. Pray at all times and hope in the Lord who alone can ultimately rescue us from the fangs of this menace! *http://www.prosperoworld.org/pages/twmaew.aspx)
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Photo by Don David
EDITORIAL STAFF Editor Alvin Tud Layout Design Patrick Tan Distribution Johnson Li MIP Editorial Staff: Alvin, Johnson & Patrick
Executive Editor Kim Snider
Published quarterly by Asia Pacific Media Ministries Unit 2608 Raffles Corporate Center, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig City, Philippines Telephone: 914-9767 E-mail: mip@apmedia.org Reproduction of photos and articles is prohibited without permission.