Lawmaker asks CA to junk Castro, Ocampo conviction over rescue of IP children
Returning ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio has called on the Court of Appeals to reverse the child endangerment conviction of former ACT Teachers congresswoman France Castro, ex-Bayan Muna party-list congressman Satur Ocampo, and 11 others in connection with the 2018 humanitarian mission to rescue Lumad students from a paramilitary group.
In 2024 the Tagum, Davao del Norte Regional Trial Court found the group, collectively known as Talaingod 13, guilty of violating Section 10(a) of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act.
They were sentenced to be imprisoned from four years to six years. The case is under appeal.
'One year of injustice is one year too long. Former lawmakers France Castro, Satur Ocampo, and their companions are not criminals. They are heroes who risked their own safety to rescue Lumad children from the terror of state-backed paramilitary groups,' Tinio said.
'Their only 'crime' was to defend the right to education and life. Teacher France, Ka Satur, and the rest of the Talaingod 13 came to the aid of Lumad students and teachers whose lives and safety were threatened. For the court to rule that they endangered children while doing so is a gross miscarriage of justice. We demand that the Court of Appeals to immediately reverse the conviction,' he added.
Tinio said that the case stemmed from a 2018 National Solidarity Mission which was held in response to the state-backed closure of Salugpungan school, a school for Lumad students, in Talaingod, Davao del Norte wherein the lives of students and children are being threatened.
"Gawa-gawa at malisyoso ang kasong ito mula pa sa simula. Ito ay paraan ng nakaraang Duterte administration para takutin ang sinumang tumutulong sa mga Lumad na ipagtanggol ang kanilang lupang ninuno at karapatan sa edukasyon," Tinio stressed.
(These are trumped up and malicious raps. It was a ploy of the Duterte administration to strike fear in those who were helping the Lumad communities in fighting for their right to education.)
"Hindi dapat pinarurusahan ang pagiging makabayan at makatao,' he added.
(We should not punish a person for being patriotic and humane.)
Tinio said prosecutors should file charges against those who are threatening the Lumad community and forcing to shutdown the Salugpungan school, including former president Rodrigo Duterte himself, who threatened to bomb Lumad schools in July 2017 for supposedly teaching subversion and communism.
"I will use the Armed Forces, the Philippine Air Force. Talagang bobombahan ko 'yung mga… lahat ng ano ninyo. Because you are operating illegally and you are teaching the children to rebel against government. May kalokohan kayo, eh di mas lalo na ako," Duterte said at the time.
Four days after making the threat, he walked back his words and insisted he did not issue a kill order.
'Duterte deserves to stand before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity not just for the thousands of killings he ordered in the name of his fake war on drugs, for which he is currently on trial, but also for war against the Lumad schools and communities that likewise led to gross human rights violations,' Tinio said.
'Justice for the Talaingod 13 is a step towards justice for all victims of state terror," he added. — BM, GMA Integrated News
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