No child deserves to be
left behind.
Angeles Relief supports children abandoned by foreign fathers in the Philippines, and uses forensic genealogy to find the men who left.
Fathers traced
70%
Cases lost
0
Families supported
40+
Operating since
2015
We want to transform bleak circumstances into bright futures.
In Angeles City, a thriving sex tourism industry brings thousands of foreign men every year. Many leave behind unplanned pregnancies and abandoned children, victims of a system shaped by poverty, exploitation and low access to contraception.
We work to change that. Our mission is to give these children the education, stability and support they need to break free from this cycle.
Angeles Relief was founded in 2015 by the Australian journalists Margaret Simons and Dave Tacon, after readers of their Walkley Award-winning story in The Monthly began sending money and asking how to help.
A decade later, the work has evolved into three parts: supporting the families directly, tracing the fathers through forensic genealogy, and holding those fathers accountable.
Our mission.
Provide support
Education, food and safe living conditions. Many mothers face extreme poverty, often returning to sex work to survive. Easing that financial strain helps families build safer, healthier lives.
Find the fathers
DNA now traces family ties without both parties giving a sample, the same technique used to solve the Golden State Killer case. In 70% of cases we can identify the child's father abroad. We then engage them to secure accountability and support for their child.
Break the cycle
Supporting today’s children creates opportunities for generations to come, so they grow up free from the hardships their mothers endured, breaking the cycle of poverty and exploitation.
Melanie and Madeline delos Santos made contact with their English father after years of estrangement. In their words, they are now 'fully whole.'
The pressures of supporting their children and wider family often leads women to continue employment in Angeles' sex industry.
Nazelle, featured in The Sun article, has a British father who is refusing contact.
Families typically live in small concrete compounds, sharing the home with multiple family members.
The areas these children are born into often lack safety, facilities or decent sanitation.
President Margaret Simons with one of the newest children we support, baby Theo, whose mother passed away during childbirth. Despite the tragic circumstances, his father does not want to provide any support.
Angeles Relief began in 2015 after the success of the Walkley Award-winning article 'Fallen Angels'.
Journalism has remained pivotal in spreading awareness about the children of Angeles City and the persistent issues of sex tourism in the Philippines.
Being contacted by ARI can be an upsetting experience. In this section are the most common questions you may have.
Why are you trying to contact me?
Why do you think I am the father?
How can you say that DNA sampling has led you to me, when I have never given you my DNA?
I want a confirmatory DNA test.
What do you want from me?
What happens if I ignore your approach?
General questions.
About donations, volunteering, and why we work in the Philippines.
How can I be sure money gets to the children?
How do I get involved?
Why are you focusing on the Philippines when this problem exists in many other countries?
Hope starts here.
We are a registered Australian charity with Deductible Gift Recipient status. Your donation goes to housing, food, healthcare and school fees for the children we support, and wages for our frontline social workers.
We are supported by
