WORKING WITH ABUSED CHILDREN

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CHAPTER ONE

The Abuse of
Filipino Childr en
Filipino families consider children as gifts from God (Bulatao
1975). They are persons who inspire love and affection and bring happiness and security in the twilight years of parents. Interestingly, children are seen as links to immortality because children pass on from one generation to another the family’s name, history, and heritage.
Often, children are portrayed as being nurtured and properly attended to in their homes; however, Filipino children are not as secure and protected as they are ideally portrayed. The increasing number of street children who work on the streets or beg for alms from pedestrians and motorists belie such an idealized portrayal. Street children, among other things, are the most palpable reminder that all is not well with Filipino children. Reality reveals the many children who are denied even the most minimum of needs like food, love, nurturance, stability, security, and stimulating learning environment that will allow for their healthy development.
Many Filipino children are rushed into maturity because early on in their lives, they are forced to contend with difficult problems and to take on adult roles and responsibilities. Media and popular and academic literature, more than any other time, has brought to our attention the plight of children, be they street children or not, who perform adult roles and who are in need of the basic components of a healthy family life.

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Bautista, Roldan & Garces-Bacsal

Reports of child abuse are also on the rise. Often, abused children have to deal, on their own, with the fear and pain brought on by parents, relatives, significant others, or complete strangers. Such realities repudiate Da Silva’s idealized view of children (in Torres
1990), as persons who “needs adult protection