REP. France Castro of the party-list group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) yesterday said she, former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, and their 11 fellow respondents may ask the Court of Appeals (CA) to reverse the decision of a court in Tagum City, Davao del Norte convicting them of child abuse for allegedly endangering the lives of minor Lumad students in 2018.
“I don’t know yet if we will still file a motion for reconsideration (with) the (Tagum City) court but I think this more of our counsel’s decision,” she said. “As we know the decision is not yet final we still have the CA and Supreme Court.”
Castro, a member of the militant Makabayan bloc at the House, said their camp is studying the option of going to the CA because they have option to appeal the conviction before the appellate court within 15 days after receiving the Tagum regional trial court’s decision.
The charges against Castro, former Bayan Muna Rep. Ocampo and the 11 other respondents accused them of holding 14 minor students during their solidarity mission in Talaingod, Davao del Norte in November 2018.
The complaint was filed by the local police and local social welfare development office.
The Tagum RTC, in a 25-page decision dated July 3, said Castro, Ocampo, and the 11 others violated Section 10 (a) of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act.
The court sentenced the 13 to imprisonment ranging from four to six years, and ordered them to pay, jointly and severally, P20,000 as civil indemnity and moral damages to each of the 14 minors, with an interest rate of 6 percent per annum until fully complied.
‘PERSISTENT RED-TAGGING’
Castro slammed National Security Adviser Eduardo Año for praising the court’s decision, saying the former AFP chief and interior secretary under the Duterte administration has been persistently “red-tagging” them and spreading disinformation.
“We know that Año’s former boss Rodrigo Duterte is still influential in Mindanao and that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is hellbent on having us convicted on trumped-up charges,” she said. “These are nothing but further attempts to legitimize their red-tagging and perpetuate their campaign of harassment against progressive individuals and organizations.”
Año earlier said, “It doesn’t matter if you are prominent in society; the law is the law, and one has to be accountable for one’s actions.”
Castro said the court’s ruling has grave implications because “it sends a dangerous message that those who help children against the harassment of the military, paramilitary and the (NTF-ELCAC) will be punished.”
“In this situation where the power and influence of red-taggers have become dominant, true justice is set aside,” she said. “As it is, we will face this trumped-up charge head on even if we reach the Supreme Court.”
Castro, who has been teaching and fighting for children’s rights for the past 25 years, finds the conviction for child abuse, particularly ironic and emotionally challenging. “Of all cases, this… as a teacher, we’ve been taking care of our students for 25 years. Now, I’m being charged with child abuse,” she said.
The 14 minors in the solidarity mission were students of the Salugpungan Ta Tanu Ingkanuhan Community Learning Center Inc.
Castro and Ocampo’s group was conducting the National Solidarity Mission in Talaingod town to provide assistance to Lumad schools and investigate cases of alleged human rights violations perpetrated by the paramilitary group Alamara.
The paramilitary group was earlier blamed for forcibly closing the Salugpungan Lumad school.
Castro and Ocampo’s group, with the minors, was intercepted at a police and military checkpoint in coordination with the local social welfare and development office in Barangay Sto. Niño, Talaingod town on the night of Nov. 28, 2018.
The prosecution said the group “failed to present or show” any legal documents authorizing them to bring or transport the minors.