Priest testifies about Philippines child trafficking

An Irish Columban priest has told a hearing of the US Congress that if child trafficking in the Philippines is to be tackled properly it will be necessary to reform the police and the judiciary, writes Ellen Teague.

Fr Shay Cullen, founder and president of the Preda Foundation, which has worked for four decades to protect street children and tackle sex tourism in the Philippines, said on 22 April that “while the  Government is striving to  improve the record of convictions, much remains to be done”. Sex tourism is growing, reported Fr Cullen, along with human trafficking of minors from rural villages, mostly in Samar and Leyte.