Preda Board of Trustees Elects a New President
This is to announce that the Preda Board of Trustees elected on 21 December 2020 Mr. Francis B. Bermido Jr. as president of the Preda Foundation. He was nominated by Fr Shay Cullen, founder of the Preda Foundation, and unanimously elected by members of the Board who were present during the annual meeting. His tenure as president is for six years.
Mr. Bermido started his work at the Preda Foundation in 2001 as a researcher in its Research, Advocacy, Information and Networking (RAIN) Department. His research into the history of Preda helped Fr. Shay in writing the book “Passion and Power.” He was then assigned as Information Officer.
He headed the Special Human Rights Education (SHARE) Project of Preda from 2004 to 2006. In that assignment, he educated hundreds of duty-bearers particularly parents, village officials, teachers and police as to the rights of children and inspired them to take affirmative action.
From 2006 to 2012, Mr. Bermido headed Preda’s Bukangliwayway Center for Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) and Children-at-Risk (CAR). Through the Bukangliwayway Center, now located in Castillejos, Zambales, the Preda Foundation has rescued hundreds of boys from sub-human conditions in jails and police detention centers, and until recently, from sub-standard Bahay Pag-asa run by local governments. Mr. Bermido has trained the staff- social workers and facilitators/houseparents- to practice positive discipline and this has significantly impacted the lives of hundreds of children that went through the rehabilitation program at the Bukangliwayway Center.
In 2012, Mr. Bermido was appointed by the Board of Trustees as Executive Director- a position he held until 2019. He was Preda’s vice president before his election as president.
Mr. Bermido has a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in management, both from the University of the Philippines. He also has a post-graduate diploma in Children, Youth and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. He is Preda’s permanent representatiove to the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC), both in the national and regional level.
