Altermidya
By JONAS ALPASAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – A Tagum court convicted a lawmaker, human rights activists and several volunteer Lumad teachers over child-trafficking case filed against them in 2018.
The case stemmed from a solidarity mission that was aimed to bring food and other essentials to Lumad students of the Salugpongan Ta’Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center Inc. (STTICLC) and the Community Technical College of Southeastern Mindanao (CTCSM) that are based in the hinterlands of Talaingod.
The police claimed that the mission was not coordinated with the authorities and that they were kidnapping the students and teachers who were fetched in the night.
The decision was penned by acting presiding judge Jimmy Boco of the Tagum Regional Trial Court Branch 2.
Among those who were convicted include former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, then school administrator Ma. Eugenia Victoria Nolasco and then Lumad teachers Jesus Madamo, Meriro Poquita, Maricel Andagkit, Marcial Rendon, Marianie Aga, Jenevive Paraba, Nerhaya Tallada, Ma. Concepcion Ibarra, Nerfa Awing, and Wingwing Daunsay.
“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,” Ocampo and Castro said in a joint statement.
They were sentenced to four years, nine months, and 11 days as minimum imprisonment to six years, eight months, and one day as maximum. The court also ordered a civil indemnity of P10,000 for each of the 14 minors.
Their other co-accused, mostly church leaders, Pastor Edgar Ugal, Rev. Ryan Magpayo, Rev. Jurie Jaime, and Ellen Ordeniza were acquitted for the “failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”
The court added that their presence during the transportation of the minors were “part of their prophetic ministry.”
Unnecessary risks?
In the decision, Judge Boco said that the human rights workers who joined in the national solidarity mission have put the Lumad children “to the potential endangerment of their safety and well-being” and that the acts of the accused subjected the children to “unnecessary risks and suffered from unsecured conditions.”
It can be recalled that at the time of the incident, Lumad schools in Mindanao have been subjected to threats, and 58 have been forcibly closed by state security forces.
The court ruled that the Lumad teachers should have utilized the motorcycles rather than walk with the children for three hours, even when the decision itself acknowledged that it was “raining when they left the school.”
Meanwhile, the decision stated that Castro, Ocampo, and the rest did not ask for the assistance of concerned local government agencies when they fetched the children.
However, a Bulatlat report earlier revealed that the team coordinated the mission with different local government units and agencies but to no avail. The team still decided to proceed with the mission even at night time because the Lumad students and teachers expressed fear for their safety.
Read: Ocampo et al released on bail, vow to file countercharges against perpetrators
“Viewed in its totality, the acts of the accused have caused the 14 children to suffer hunger, cold, danger, risk exhaustion, and other conditions prejudicial to their development,” the decision read.
Wrongful conviction
Ocampo and Castro said the court decision is a “clear miscarriage of justice” and that will question this in all venues possible.
“We 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,” they said. (JJE)
