Philippines: Satur, lawmaker arrested in Davao protest
Event- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Nov 28, 2018
- Event Description
Former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro were arrested along with 72 others for conducting a solidarity mission in Davao del Norte on Wednesday night. According to ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, the lawmakers and the other individuals who were mostly part of human rights groups held the protest to support students and teachers of a lumad (indigenous people) school that had been forcibly shut down by the 56th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. [T]he solidarity mission convoy was attacked by men believed to be members of the paramilitary group known as Alamara. Tires of some of their vehicles were spiked, the windshield of the van ridden by Rep. Castro and Ka (Kasama or Comrade) Satur was broken and gunshots were fired in their vicinity," Tinio told reporters. The police, instead of going after the attackers, he said, brought the mission participants to the Talaingod police station in Davao del Norte, where they were detained. The Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives confirmed that the National Solidarity Mission was a delegation of 74 people, including 29 students and 12 teachers of lumad schools in the region. The protesters have been detained since 9:30 p.m. The bloc said all the protesters involved are facing charges of "human trafficking in relation to child abuse law," which it said was a "blatant and outrageous lie." The Army on Thursday said tribal leaders in Davao sought assistance from the police and military in connection with the alleged child trafficking incident.
- Impact of Event
- 74
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Judicial Harassment
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Summary for Publications
On 28 November 2018, Satur Ocampo, Former Bayan Muna Representative and France Castro, ACT Teachers party-list Representative, were arrested along with 72 others for conducting a solidarity mission in Davao del Norte