It was a normal day in the life of 13-year-old Jeremiah as he was leaving the schoolyard in Angeles City. He saw his classmates running to get candies and chocolates being handed out by an overweight, cheerful, balding Caucasian man. He sat outside his house, which was close to the school, handing out candies and the children flocked to get them. He invited some of the boys to inside his house and upstairs, where more candies and a television show await. He quickly made friends with them.
If you were in Metro Manila and went to visit a Bahay Pag-asa or “House of Hope” where children as young as seven are incarcerated along with youth up to 17 years of age, you will see that the majority of 12-year-olds look like 8-year-olds.