Raps filed vs 7 arrested in raid on Lumad Bakwit School in Cebu
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police has filed a complaint of kidnapping, child exploitation, and human trafficking against the seven people arrested in a raid on the retreat house of the University of San Carlos in Cebu City earlier this week.
To recall, operatives of the PNP Women and Children Protection Center along with social workers under the Cebu City Department of Social Welfare Services conducted what they say is a "rescue operation" on 19 Lumad minors.
In a statement, the PNP Public Information Office said that the seven arrested — among them, teachers and Lumad elders — are facing raps for allegedly violating Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines (Kidnapping with Serious Illegal Detention), and Section 10 of Republic Act No. 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act) and Sections 4 and 9 of Republic Act No. 9208 as amended by Republic Act No. 10364 (Human Trafficking).
"The case stemmed from complaints by six Ata Manobo parents of the rescued Lumad children who were herded in Talaingod, Davao del Norte in 2018 and brought to Cebu City without their consent," the statement said.
"Via video teleconference from the Police Regional Office in Camp Osmeña, Cebu City, the seven respondents were presented for Inquest proceedings before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Davao del Norte at the Hall of Justice, Capitol Site, Mankilam, Tagum City."
Inquest Prosecutor Grazielynne Corpuz gave the respondents 15 days to submit their counter-affidavit, after they manifested, through a lawyer with the National Union of People's Lawyers, to avail of preliminary investigation.
Preliminary investigation is an inquiry or proceeding to determine whether there is sufficient ground to engender a well-founded belief that a crime has been committed and the respondent is probably guilty thereof, and should be held for trial.
In a preliminary investigation, the respondents will be given an opportunity to file their defenses through a counter-affidavit.
Police said the filing of cases was based on the narratives of the parents and their children. They claimed the children were kidnapped by the Lumad bakwit school and made to go "warfare training" to become "child warriors" for communist rebels.
A social worker who was there and who interviewed the children has cast doubt on that claim.
Conflicting narratives
Philstar.com has spoken to more of the social workers present at the operation since then, all of whom told the same story: that the raid on the private university's campus was spearheaded by the PNP, who only contacted them for social workers' assistance since minors were involved.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one said in Filipino in a text message Thursday: "I was able to hold an initial interview with two of the kids. I didn't hear anything from them about being trained to rebel. What they said was they were made to write modules, do zumba, and had tasking for housework (gawaing bahay.)"
"We asked them things like how they were fed. They said they were usually given vegetables. But they never said they were trained, they didn't say anything like that to us," another said. "According to the police, the parents said they didn't know where their children went. They just supposedly went missing sometime in 2018."
The social workers also said that the operation originated from a letter from the PNP Women and Children Protection Center-Visayas Cluster dated February 2 and addressed to the Department of Social Welfare and Development asking for the assistance of social workers. The DSWD in turn forwarded the letter to the Cebu City Department of Social Welfare and Services as the local government office in the region.
The letter only mentioned a "possible rescue" of minors, they said. Kidnapping and human trafficking were not mentioned, and it was not clear to them at the time what the children were being rescued from.
The same source said that the social workers were not told that they were rescuing kidnapped and trafficked children when PRO-7 operatives reached out to them.
'Children had consent of parents'
Fr. Rogelio Bag-ao, provincial supervisor of SVD Southern Philippines, was quoted in a Philippine News Agency article as saying that there were no indications that the children’s stay at the retreat house was without the consent of their parents.
“Every now and then, I visit them and I can see them video-calling with their parents. I cannot understand why they were reports that these children were missing for three years already,” Bag-ao said.
In a statement issued Wednesday night, the Save Our Schools Network also asserted that the Lumad students stranded in USC Talamban campus were enrolled in Malabuan High School and Bulakanon National High School in Makilala, North Cotabato for their blended learning.
READ: Rights groups sound alarm on 'troubling' raid on Lumad school in Cebu
"We continue to assert that the existence of the Lumad Bakwit School in Cebu since 2019 has been thoroughly documented and has been transparent. We denounce all claims of kidnapping and warfare training that have to real evidence," Regletto Imbong, the Save Our Schools Network's Cebu convenor, said.
"The PNP has no real evidence of all their claims and are engaging resolutely in a propaganda war against the Lumad indigenous people in an effort to silence them. We will not allow this to continue," the professor added.
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