The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) vehemently denounced the guilty verdict against former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, current ACT Teachers’ Partylist Rep. France Castro, and 11 others for child trafficking and abuse. The case was filed at Tagum City Regional Trial Court Branch 2 in 2018.
In a statement, ICHRP chair Peter Murphy said that the court’s decision is “a grotesque expression of the weaponizing of the law under Duterte and Marcos Jr.,” and demands the immediate reversal of the decision.
“ICHRP denounces this court decision as part of the total suppression of over 250 Lumad indigenous community schools by the Duterte administration, a policy now imposed by President Marcos Jr.,” said Murphy. “This is a gross violation of the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples, the right to education for the children, and the freedom of association and assembly by those now found guilty.”
In a 26-page decision issued on July 15, 2024, the Tagum City Regional Trial Court Branch 2 Castro, Ocampo, and 11 others for violation of Section 10a of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act. They were all sentenced to four to six years in prison and ordered to pay P10,000 (US$171) as civil indemnity and P10,000 as moral damages to each of the 14 minors involved.
The case stemmed from the National Humanitarian Mission organized by Ocampo, Castro, and others, which aimed to bring food to the students at the Lumad School there which was under a food blockade and threats of violence from the notorious Alamara paramilitary group in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
According to Save Our Schools Network, a group providing alternative learning services (ALS) to Indigenous children in the area, on November 28, 2018, teachers and students were forced to flee Sitio Dulyan, Barangay Palma Gil in Talaingod, Davao del Norte because of threats of being killed by the para-military group ALAMARA at “the instigation” of the 56th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. These alleged actions by the military and the paramilitary elements were assailed by Ocampo and Castro, saying that the police had failed to investigate this serious violence aimed at the teachers and students by this paramilitary group.
Meanwhile, on the same date, the former Bayan Muna representative and 12 others, including Castro, held a caravan as part of the humanitarian mission, where the five-vehicle convoy was stopped at a checkpoint by Talaingod police officers and soldiers from the 56th IB at Barangay Santo Niño. On the vehicles were 70 people, including 29 schoolchildren.
Eighteen people were arrested by the police on the spot, including four church clergy from the United Church of Christ of the Philippines and the United Methodist Church, while 14 of the school children were handed over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Those arrested were released three days later on bail of P80,000 (US$1,369) each. (NOEL SALES BARCELONA)
