A dirty secret in the Philippines

Special correspondent John Zarocostas interviewed the Rev. Shay Cullen of the Missionary Society of St. Columban last week in Geneva about the plight of street children in the Philippines, where the Irish-born Roman Catholic priest works.

Question: Can you elaborate on the death squads that are killing street children in the Philippines?

Answer: Several years ago, we were contacted by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Davao City. They asked us to help them to look into the problem of mainly street children who were being shot dead by death squads. These are a group of men riding around on black motorcycles, all like a team dressed in a kind of a black uniform.

The death squads are armed and obviously connected by radios, as if they’re official, and killing children on the streets in pools of blood. So we did an investigation and contacted various NGOs to help, insofar as it was possible, to identify the children who were killed. Because some are homeless, they’re vagrants, just grown up in the streets, nobody knows who they are. We found out many of them were 12, 13, 14, 15 years old.

Since 2000, it was Mayor Benjamin de Guzman who was in charge [of Davao City], but we got no satisfaction. So I began an Internet lobbying campaign to challenge what he was doing. Speaking at an international conference and calling for the setup of an international court for children’s rights. Or a part of the International Criminal Court should have a section for children, specifically.

But he got very angry with us, and he sued me. But that’s the way to try and stifle us, keep us from speaking out, speaking to the media, telling our story, standing up for human rights. That was in the year 2000, and we fought that case in court, defending our right to protect children.

Eventually we won that case, but the killings went on. He lost the next election two months later and his rival, Rodrigo Duterte, came to power — and he’s still in power — and the killings got worse, and went on. And this gang still acted with impunity, shooting and killing.

Q: Overall, how many children have been killed in Philippine cities?

A: I can’t say overall. They do not report. It’s covered up. Even in Davao City and surrounding areas, we are looking at 56 [killings] over the last three years. … They are reckoned to be minors, but we cannot fully confirm that because they don’t have birth certificates. … A rough estimate is something like that. But in other cities, more have been reported in newspapers.

Q: And in total?

A: We reckon hundreds [of children] are being killed in cities all over the place. Three were beheaded in Quezon City, right in front of the congressional building — well that’s last year. I can only say hundreds.

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