Altermidya
‘This is a clear miscarriage of justice’
ACT Teachers’ Party Rep. France Castro and former Bayan Muna representative Satur Ocampo said their conviction for “child abuse” is wrongful and they intend to contest the verdict “in all venues possible.”
In a statement after Tagum Regional Trial Court Branch 2 Judge Jimmy Boco decided they were guilty of “child abuse,” Castro and Ocampo said their conviction, along with administrator and teachers of the Salugpungan Ta ‘Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center as well as two from the Alliance of Concerned Teachers is “unacceptable and unjust.”
“This is a clear miscarriage of justice, and we will strongly question this decision in all venues possible.,” the two said jointly.
They added their 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.
The two activists also complained that the persons who are actually responsible for the forcible closure of the schools as well as the threats and harassment against national minority groups have never been investigated.
Castro and Ocampo were obviously referring to former president Rodrigo Duterte who ordered the close of about 200 Lumad schools across Mindanao.
Lumad groups also reported that Duterte carried out his threat to bomb the schools and was responsible for the massacres and assassination of school administrators, teachers and students.
READ: Lumad Schools: Isang masalimuot, malungkot na kuwento
“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,” the two progressives 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 added.
READ: Tagum Court convicts France, Satur; says 2018 humanitarian mission was ‘child abuse’
Decision assailed
Human rights group Karapatan said itassails the “unjust verdict,” adding the decision is an attack on rights defenders.
The group said the case arose after those convicted responded to calls for rescue from a group of Lumad children in November 2018 who had been repeatedly threatened and harassed by military and paramilitary forces that even locked them out of their schools.
“Judge Boco disregarded the defendants’ assertion that they were engaged in a humanitarian act, and that it was the military and paramilitary forces who were endangering the Lumad children’s rights and welfare,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a separate statement.
“This verdict shows that even courts of law are increasingly being weaponized against human rights defenders,” Palabay added.
Palabay said they denounce the court ruling as proof of a stark double standard in the country’s justice system where the moneyed and powerful are acquitted while the rights of advocates for the rights of the Lumad and other vulnerable sectors of society are repeatedly violated.
“We know that this temporary setback will not deter Ka Satur, Rep. Castro and others in the human rights community from persevering in the collective struggle for truth, justice, Lumad and people’s rights,” Palabay said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
