The Holy Innocents of our times

Tomorrow, December 28, is the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Many of us may well know that this day is especially dedicated to honor the memory of the innocent children killed because of Herod’s fear about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. As narrated in the Holy Bible, Herod, the King of Judea, got alarmed at the prospect of the “new born king” taking over his rule, so he ordered the massacre of all boys, two years old and below, in Bethlehem and its vicinity. Since the sixth century, the Church has venerated the memory of these children killed because they gave testimony to the Messiah “not by words but by their blood”. These children were the first martyrs and they literally died in the place of Christ.

Today, it is the street children who represent the Holy Innocents of our times. It is saddening to know that even with this so-called “progress and development”, children continue to become victims of poverty, violence and abuse, albeit in many different forms. There are approximately over 100 million street children worldwide. Here in the Philippines, street children are fast becoming a significant problem. We do not have the latest statistics, but according to a 1998 report, there were already an estimated 1.5 million street children at that time. According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), this number increases by 6,365 annually. Everyday, these children are faced with numerous kinds of cruelty and exploitation. Their parents push them at a young age to help earn income for the family. It is not surprising therefore that, aside from, or among the streetchildren, there are reportedly 20,000 child prostitutes, 4 million child laborers with 2.4 million working under hazardous conditions. As if this is not enough, we learn of children being kidnapped or even sold by their impoverished parents and their organs extracted and sold in illegal markets abroad. In the south, minors are being recruited and trained as soldiers by communist and extremist groups. 

For this reason, we have long advocated that the Feast of the Holy Innocents be officially dedicated to the street children and other disadvantaged youth. We are happy to note that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has breathed life to this advocacy. On December 28, 2006, Malacañang released Proclamation No. 1207, officially declaring December 28 as a “Special Day dedicated to street children and other abandoned, orphaned, abused and marginalized youth”. What’s important, however, is how the occasion is celebrated. Last year, to commemorate the occasion’s first year, some government agencies launched different programs geared towards making possible “a convergence of cooperativism and synergized cultural initiatives for vulnerable groups”. The proclamation further stated that “focusing on their needs, conditions and celebrating their capacity to social transformation and achievement would be inspiring to forge broader community and national support for advancing their welfare”.                                    

We commend the efforts of certain government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Labor (DOLE) and non-government organizations like the Council for the Welfare of Children, Bantay Bata Foundation, the Virlanie Foundation and the Don Bosco Streetchildren Program, to name a few, in monitoring the plight of these young victims and giving them protection and help. But because the statistics are increasing, these ongoing efforts seem inadequate to completely remove the children from the streets, hazardous working circumstances, from exploitation, abuse and violence.

We hope that with the initiative shown by these groups, more organizations and local government units will follow suit and launch their own programs that will further the cause of these street children. We, in our own individual capacities and resources, can also help contribute in helping one or two or more street children become more responsible and proud members of society. Like the Holy Innocents who proved the Messiah’s existence with their lives, this time, let us give testimony to His existence in our hearts by doing everything we can to help these poor children.