Why and how do people, who do not know about human hardship and suffering, are indifferent to helping the poor and brand 12-year-old children as criminals when they are just children, get elected to high offices? The reason is likely to be that they never suffered deprivation, hunger, and abandonment. They led privileged lives of entitlement and are mostly the children of rich political dynasties that seem to reign forever.  
 

We entered the so-called Bahay Pagasa (House of Hope.) It turned out to be a children’s jail. We brought snacks and drinks to share with the young people in the cells. About 25 girls were crowded into one room. No air conditioning here, no fans either, so we brought some, but the rancid body smells pervaded the cells in the hot tropical heat.