Advocates renew calls for Talaingod 13 conviction reversal
“By sustaining this conviction, the State codifies a chilling precedent."
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“By sustaining this conviction, the State codifies a chilling precedent."
“Instead of going after the Alamara and the military, the government filed charges against the likes of Ka Satur (Ocampo) and Ma’am France (Castro).”
The CHR concluded that there were indeed militarization and human rights violations committed by both the Philippine Army and paramilitary group Alamara within the ancestral lands of the Lumad in certain sitios in the towns of Talaingod and Kapalong in Davao del Norte.
“Children who had fled fear and insecurity were portrayed as kidnap victims. Parents who testified that their children left voluntarily were sidelined. The broader context of militarization, school closures, and official hostility to Lumad education was treated as irrelevant."
"We will not stop until justice is served. We have done nothing wrong. Their accusations bear no truth and we will continue to challenge it and push for any legal remedies available to us."
The rescued Lumad student continues to urge for the reversal of the unjust conviction of Talaingod 13.
The child-focused group noted there was an estimate of 10,000 IP students in Mindanao who were affected after the discontinuation of over 200 Lumad schools, which were built by non-government organizations, IP communities, and church workers.
“The case faced by the Talaingod 13 is a clear example of how the law is being used to suppress the rights of Indigenous Peoples who only wish to live peacefully on their land. We have also witnessed how solidarity with others has been criminalized."
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