[ad_1]
DAVAO CITY – Police, backed by army soldiers, arrested former Bayan Muna representative, Satur Ocampo, and 17 other militant group leaders and "lumad" (indigenous) teachers volunteers for traffic of people.
Ocampo and the others were to deliver food to a remote village in Talaingod, Davao del Norte province, and rescue dozens of Lumad teachers and students allegedly harassed by members of the paramilitary group. Armed called Alamara when police and soldiers stopped them checkpoint Wednesday night.
They were part of a convoy of five vehicles intercepted by Talaingod police officers and soldiers of the 56th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Barangay Santo Niño, including more than 70 people, including 29 schoolchildren, were held there until the next morning.
Thursday at noon, the police had known of charges of human trafficking in Ocampo, France Castro, executive director of the Lumad school, nine volunteer teachers, two other lawmakers and four Protestant pastors.
They were also charged with breaking a law that provided special protection for children and being brought before the Tagum City Procurator's Office later that afternoon.
Solidarity Mission
Ocampo and the others were part of a solidarity mission that had responded to an urgent call for help from the lumad teachers of the Salugpongan Ta'Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center in Barangay Palma Gil, where soldiers from the 56th IB and Alamara gunmen allegedly imposed a food blockade.
While they were traveling to Talaingod from Tagum, where they had unsuccessfully sought security escorts from the governor of Davao del Norte and other government officials, their convoy was stopped by soldiers of the army at Sitio Igang, Palma Gil, around 20 hours. Wednesday. They were then allowed to proceed.
Teachers, saddened by the forced closure of their school in Sitio Dulyan, allegedly threatened by Alamara gunmen, feared so much for their safety that they left the community with their students in tow until they find Ocampo's convoy in Sitio Butay after two hours. hiking.
S addressing by telephone to reporters in Manila, spokesman for the Davao Regional Office, the insp. Jason Baria said that the regional office of the Ministry of Education had closed the school because it was suspected to be a facade of the New Communist People's Army.
Chief Superintendent Ferlu Silvio, Chief of Police of Davao del Norte, said that Mr. Ocampo was also detained under a warrant issued by a judge of Palayan City, Nueva Ecija, in connection with a murder case that occurred in 2004. The former lawmaker Bayan Muna and three other former leftists had previously described the prosecution as false.
Guard of the miners
According to the police, the Talaingod welfare office had looked after 14 minors between the ages of 15 and 17.
In a statement, the makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives said it would be "a flagrant and outrageous lie" to accuse Ocampo, Castro and other people of this trafficking.
"The offense of child trafficking is at the heart of exploitation, which includes at a minimum the exploitation or prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, the labor or forced services, slavery, servitude or the abduction or sale of persons. organs, "he said.
In a statement, the human rights group Karapatan warned against filing "fabricated" charges against Ocampo's group and demanded their immediate release.
"The endless arsenal of this regime, which includes military occupation of communities and schools, murders, threats and harassment of residents, including children and human rights defenders, is brutal and condemnable" said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan.
"This is nothing more than obvious harassment, because they still refuse to release the group despite the presentation of the certification of the parents of children," she said.
Gabriela's representatives, Emmi de Jesus and Arlene Brosas, have, in a separate statement, challenged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to defend the rights of members of the House, especially those who visit areas that require their attention. . -NOTE OF REPORTS BY JEANNETTE A. ANDRADE, MELVIN GASCON AND JEROME ANING
Read more
<! – Please implement on Entertainment only, delete the Twitter nickname after signing in #byline_share
->
Subscribe to INQUIRE MORE to access The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download it at 4am and share articles on social networks. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, contact us.
[ad_2]
Source link
