A court in Tagum, Davao del Norte has sentenced ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro and former Bayan Muna party-list representative Satur Ocampo to up to six years of imprisonment for endangering minors in November 2018.
In a 25-page decision, the Tagum Regional Trial Court Branch 2 found Castro, Ocampo, and 11 others guilty for violation of Section 10(a) of Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act and sentenced them to imprisonment from four years to six years.
The court ordered them to pay, jointly and severally, P10,000 as civil indemnity and P10,000 as moral damages to each minor, with an interest rate of 6% per annum from finality of the decision until full payment.
“Records reveal that the prosecution has established proof beyond reasonable doubt that [the] accused… committed acts detrimental to the safety and well-being of the minor Lumad learners,” it said.
Meanwhile, the court acquitted Pastor Edgar Ugal, Rev. Ryan Magpayo, Eller Ordeniza, and Rev. Jurie Jaime for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
This stemmed from the trafficking charge filed against them and 17 others for allegedly holding minors during their solidarity mission in Talaingod, Davao Del Norte in November 2018.
A group joined by Castro and Ocampo and 72 others was conducting a National Solidarity Mission in Talaingod to give aid to Lumad schools and teachers in the area and investigate cases of human rights violations after the paramilitary group ALAMARA forcibly padlocked the Salugpongan Community Center.
In a joint statement, Castro and Ocampo called the decision of the court 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 .
Decision
In the decision, the court said records showed that the accused took the children out in the dark and on an unsecured road and let them walk on foot for three hours, which it said endangered them.
“Considering the terrain and the conditions of the road, the children might be shot either by the military or [New People’s Army] (NPA) because it was in these areas that the military and the NPA had several encounters,” it said.
“Morever, they might also be bitten by snakes or insects, or fall into ravine or off the cliff, or slipping and falling on the road, which is very rough and slippery,” it added.
The court noted that at the time, it was also raining, leaving the students “wet and cold” as well as hungry.
“As a result, thereof, the minor children were undoubtedly endangered which created in the conditions prejudicial to their development,” it said.
Further, the court found that there was conspiracy between Castro, Ocampo, and the others, saying that the solidarity mission had been planned in advance.
For their part, however, Castro and Ocampo said that the decision ignored the testimonies on the continued harassment of Lumad schools as well as the danger faced by the students.
“Even the prosecution’s own witnesses testified that it was out of fear that the teachers decided to leave the community to a safer area,” they said.
“The justification for the supposed presence of conspiracy has no basis. Our mere presence in the highway where we met the teachers and the children is insufficient to establish conspiracy,” they added.
“This is a clear miscarriage of justice and we will strongly question this decision in all venues possible,” they further said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
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