'Dangerous precedent': Activists decry guilty verdict against Castro, Ocampo

MANILA, Philippines — Several groups have condemned the conviction of Rep. France Castro (ACT-Teachers), former party-list lawmaker Satur Ocampo (Bayan Muna) and 11 others by a Tagum City court in a child abuse case.

On Monday, the Tagum City Regional Trial Court Branch 2 found Castro and the others guilty of endangering minors in a 2018 “solidarity mission” in which they may face up to six years in prison.

In a statement, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, a group of former and current Southeast Asian lawmakers, slammed the court’s conviction of Castro and the others calling it an “absurd decision that has no basis in reality.”

“The Talaingod 18 should be commended for their bravery, not punished for it," the group said in a statement.

The ASEAN Parliamentarians then urged the government to grant Castro and her co-accused bail. 

"We stand in solidarity with Rep France Castro and her fellow human rights defenders and we further call on the higher courts to recognize the ridiculousness of this case and duly overturn this preposterous conviction,” the group said. 

In a separate statement, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)-NCR Union, linked to Castro's party-list, called for the reversal of the case’s verdict against the accused individuals as it sets a “dangerous precedent” that “criminalizes acts of solidarity and support for marginalized communities.”

“We maintain that the mission to Talaingod in 2018 was a humanitarian response to the urgent plea of the Lumad community whose schools were being forcibly closed and whose children were being deprived of their right to education,” the group’s statement read.

“It sends a chilling message to all educators, activists, and human rights defenders that standing up for the rights of the oppressed can lead to persecution and conviction,” it added.

In convicting Castro, Ocampo and the 11 others, the court said they endangered the children by taking them on a "dark and unsecured road" where they walked for hours, risking potential harm from either government troops or communist New People's Army guerrillas operating in the area.

The accused maintained the incident was a “solidarity mission" aimed at rescuing