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Scarlet May for SUPACA: Cervical Cancer, HIV/AIDS & Anti-Child Labor Trafficking Advocacy

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SCARLET MAY LANTERN WALK FOR CERVICAL CANCER AWARENESS - May 5, 2018 at the SM Seaside The SUPACA youth advocates participate in the Lantern Walk for cervical cancer awareness parading from the San Pedro Calungsod Chapel to the SM Seaside, with obstetrician-gynecologists and cervical cancer advocates to improve awareness on cervical cancer prevention and screening to save women's lives.  They may be young, but they know at an early age that they need to take care of their health and prevent cancer. INTERNATIONAL AIDS CANDLELIGHT MEMORIAL:  Reflecting the Past, Preparing for our Future - May 20, 2018 at the Cebu City Hall The SUPACA youth advocates attend the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial at the Cebu City Hall, listening to testimonies of people living with HIV and the challenges of dealing with stigma and discrimination, access to healthcare, treatment, care and support.  This activity is done in remembrance of those we've lost to AIDS and p...
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An Act of True Love can Thaw a Frozen Heart

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THE POWER OF FAMILIAL LOVE We had our scholars' meeting today.  We watched the film FROZEN.  I realize that there are a lot of things we can learn from this cartoon movie: about sisterly love, estrangement and isolation, about sacrifice and about finding your true powers and setting yourself free.  Let me share the lessons we learned:  Elsa originally hid her powers to protect Anna from getting hurt, not realizing that in the process Elsa was hurting herself with isolation.  In the end, the bond between Elsa and Anna was so strong that despite their estrangement, Anna gave up her life to save her sister Elsa.  Elsa became free when she accepted herself and her true powers, and this was the new sexy.  Anna was so deprived of love that she didn't really know what true love was.  What she experience with Hans was infatuation.  She needed to know her true worth and be reminded not to talk to strangers.  She needed to learn that "tr...
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How do we protect our children?

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Last month, photos of an innocent-looking young girl splashed the headlines of local newspapers.  It turned out to be Liezyl Margallo , 23, who has sixteen (16) pending warrants of arrests and is facing charges on human trafficking , anti-photo and video voyeurism, and the anti-child abuse act.  Most of the victims were street children and children from families too large for parents to support.  They were promised a better life for their children once adopted.  Instead, the children face horrendous acts of violence. More recently, I was shocked to learn about a 4-month baby girl treated for lacerations on her genitals due to rape.  This was all over the news that day. A few years back, I remember an international organization from the Netherlands called Terre des Hommes ( TDH ) created a digital ten-year old Filipino girl named Sweetie to entrap pedophiles engaging in webcam child sex tourism. There are also a number of videos on youtube.com whic...
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Promoting Child Rights Protection

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The Republic Act 9344 known as the  Juvenile Justice Welfare Act of 2006 celebrated 10 years of its existence.  This law recognizes the right of children to assistance, including proper care and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty and exploitation, and other conditions prejudicial to their development.  It further defines a child at risk and a child in conflict with the law. This law also points to the  minimum age of criminal liability: A child fifteen (15) years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability. Children are often used in drug trafficking nowadays because of this exemption.  Hence, some call for a lowering of this minimum age so that children committing heinous crimes can be put behind bars.  Child rights advocates insist that in these instances, children are victims too. The Philippines signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights o...
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Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery

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Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery Back in highschool, I remember reading the book called the Color Purple.  The novel is about a poor and uneducated 14-year old girl who suffers rape, beatings, maltreatment and all forms of abuse, and endures through all the hardships until she is reunited with family and loved ones at the end of the story.  These stories are based on true events, and sadly these still occur until this day. What is Human Trafficking? Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.  People on the ground like community organizer Elaine says human trafficking is a lucrative business, and that women and children are made vulnerable by poverty and gender discrimination.  In some areas in Cebu, it has become so bad that it was once considered a cottage industry.  Children are robbed of their youth, and end up as broken, empty shell...
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The Share A Child Movement Inc - my grandmother's legacy

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The Share A Child Movement Inc - my grandmother's legacy Let me start from the very beginning.  In the Philippines, small children listen to stories told by their grandmothers (Lola, in Filipino).  Let me share with you the story of my Lola Sising's legacy. I am Helen Valenzona Madamba, the eldest granddaughter of Atty. Esperanza G. Valenzona (fondly called Lola Sising).  She founded The Share A Child Movement, Inc (TSACMI), a child-focused, Cebu-based non-government organization which envisions children empowered to become productive citizens of the world. In the 1980s Atty. Esperanza G. Valenzona initiated literacy programs and scouting activities for youth offenders jailed among hardened criminals in the Cebu City jail. With the help of a handful of her friends, she established a non-government organization to expand her work in jail, thus the birth of The Share A Child Movement, Inc.  Its objective is to promote the full development of a ...
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