‘Wrongful conviction’ by Davao court, say militants
BY ASHZEL HACHERO and WENDELL VIGILIA
THE Tagum City Regional Trial Court has found Rep. France Castro of the party-list group ACT Teachers, former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, and 11 others guilty of endangering minors in 2018 and meted them prison terms.
Castro and Ocampo, in a joint statement, said the court decision is “unacceptable and unjust.”
“This wrongful conviction speaks of the continuing persecution of those who are helping and advocating for the rights of Lumad children and the persistent attacks on Lumad schools and communities,” they said.
“We persist in our call that those who ordered and orchestrated the attacks against the Lumad schools, specifically former President Rodrigo Duterte and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), and endangered the lives of indigenous children must be brought to justice,” they also said.
The NTF-ELCAC welcomed the decision.
“Justice has been served,” said retired Army general Ernesto, executive director of the NTF-ELCAC which is supervising the campaign against the decades-old communist insurgency.
The charges against Castro, Ocampo and the 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 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 RTC was acting on the complaint filed the local police and local social welfare development office.
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.
“After painstakingly weighing the testimonies as well as the evidence adduced by both parties, this Court finds the evidence of the prosecution sufficient to warrant the conviction of accused Saturnino C. Ocampo, Rep. France Castro, Ma. Victoria Eugenia M. Nolasco, Jesus Madamo, Meriro Poquito, Maricel Amdagkit, Marriance Aga, Marcial Rendon, Jenevive Paraba, Nerfa Awing, Wingwing Daunsay, Nerhaya Talledo, and Ma. Concepcion Ibarra,” the court’s decision read.
“Records reveal that the prosecution has established proof beyond reasonable doubt that accused Ocampo, Castro, Nolasco, Madamo, Poquito, Andagkit, Aga, Rendon, Paraba, Awing, Daunsay, Talledo and Ibarra, indeed committed acts detrimental to the safety and well-being of the minor Lumad learners by keeping them in their company and transporting them on foot in the evening for three hours, more or less, on a dark, remote and unsecured road without the assistance and presence of the law enforcement, any government agency, or written permission and consent of the minor’s parents and exposing said minors to dangers and hazards by traveling in the middle of the night, thereby compromising their safety, and creating conditions prejudicial to their development,” it added.
In the same ruling, the court junked the same charges against four pastors namely Edgar Ugal, Ryan Magpayo, Eller Ordeniza and Jurie Jaime as the prosecution has “failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”
SOLIDARITY MISSION
The 14 minor in the solidarity mission were students of the Salugpungan Ta Tanu Ingkanuhan Community Learning Center Inc.
Castro and Ocampo’s group, joined by over 70 others, 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 Salugpongan 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.
In finding the respondents guilty for violating RA 7610, the court said the prosecution was able to show that they took the minor Lumads out in the dark and on an unsecured road and let them walk on foot for three hours, in an area known to be dangerous being the site of previous encounters between the Philippine Army and the communist New People’s Army, which it said endangered them.
The court also said the minors could have been bitten by snakes or insects, could have fallen into a ravine or a off cliff, or slipped on the road.
“As a result thereof, the minor children were undoubtedly endangered which created the conditions prejudicial to their development,” the court said.
The court likewise said the respondents had no valid justification or authority to take the 14 minors.
“In addition, the act of the accused clearly show that they failed to take necessary precaution to safeguard the safety and well-being of the children when they transported the Lumad learners from Sitio Dulyan to Tagum City,” the court added.
The court added that the accused “acted in conspiracy with one another” when they transported the 14 students “except the four pastors.”
“In arriving at such ruling, this Court is convinced that the prosecution has sufficiently proven without any iota of doubt that there was indeed conspiracy between and among the principals, namely Ocampo, Castro and Nolasco,” the court said, adding the prosecution was able to present evidence that the national solidarity mission was planned in advance.
STEADFAST
Castro and Ocampo, in the joint statement, said they “remain steadfast in our support for the indigenous schools and communities who continue to bear the brunt of the fascist attacks by the Marcos regime.”
“The persons who are actually responsible for the forcible closure of the schools as well as the threats and harassment have never been investigated. This is a clear miscarriage of justice, and we will strongly question this decision in all venues possible,” they also said.
In a separate statement, Castro the effect of the court’s decision “is that rescuing children from military intimidation and harassment is wrong and the children would have to go through bureaucratic documentation before they can be rescued in an emergency crisis.”
“We will appeal this decision even if it reaches the Supreme Court, As it is, we will continue to work for the reopening of Lumad schools for them to be more informed and prepared for the future,” said the educator-turned-lawmaker.
PERSECUTION VICTIMS
Rep. Arlene Brosas (PL, Gabriela), Castro’s fellow Makabayan bloc member, said the “Talaingod 18” are victims of state persecution for their humanitarian efforts to rescue Lumad students and teachers from threats and harassment.
“The circumstances of their arrest and detention in 2018 were marked by irregularities and clear violations of their rights. This conviction is a blatant attack on those who stand in solidarity with indigenous communities and their right to education,” she said.
Brosas also said it is alarming that while activists and educators face “unjust” convictions, those responsible for the forcible closure of schools and threats against the Lumad community remain uninvestigated.
“We demand accountability from former President Rodrigo Duterte and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for endangering the lives of indigenous children. We stand in solidarity with the Talaingod 18 and all victims of political persecution and call for the dropping of all trumped-up charges,” she said.
Rep. Raoul Manuel (PL, Kabataan), also of the Makabayan bloc, said Castro’s conviction seems to be linked to her roles in leading the charge to hold accountable former president Rodrigo Duterte for his bloody war on drugs, Vice President Sara Duterte for her use of confidential funds and their ally pastor Apollo Quiboloy “for being an internationally wanted child sex trafficker.”
“This is sweet revenge for them. It would not be surprising if they had a hand in this. This is a political maneuver to pre-empt the 2025 bid of genuine opposition leaders with Rep. Castro at the helm,” Manuel said. “We call to junk the trumped up charges against Rep. France, Ka Satur, and the volunteer teachers of Lumad Schools. It should be the real child abusers currently running free, like those in the ranks of the military and Quiboloy whom Rodrigo Duterte fiercely protects, that should be jailed.”
The Communist Party of the Philippines described the court decision as a “direct attack of the fascist US-Marcos regime against the democratic and patriotic forces of the Filipino people.”
“We join the broad masses of the Filipino people in roundly condemning this grave act of political persecution,” CPP spokesman Marco Valbuena said in a statement.
Valbuena said it is a “gross political and historical distortion” that Castro, Ocampo and the others “are being painted as criminals for rescuing and providing safe haven for Lumad Manobo children” who he said were subjected to military “attacks.”
RALLIES
Amid plans by leftist groups to hold indignation rallies, the NTF-ELCAC’s Torres
urged Castro’s camp to respect the court’s decision.
“Satur and Castro were given their day in court. They were assisted by a battalion of lawyers and their case was found wanting. They should accept the court’s decision because we are a nation of laws and not of men,” he said.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, who is also vice chairman of the NTF-ELCAC, said the court decision “shows that no one is above the law.”
“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,” he said.
Año also commended the Department of Justice, the Office of the Solicitor General, the NTF-ELCAC, the PNP and the Armed Forces “for their vigilant efforts in ensuring that justice is served.”
Torres commended government prosecutors and lawyers from the NTF-ELCAC who he said worked tirelessly to win the case.
He urged the public to maintain vigilance and continue supporting indigenous communities. — With Victor Reyes
