On February 18, Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) issued a statement demanding the Philippine National Police (PNP) to confirm the whereabouts of Dr. Natividad “Naty” Castro — a detained barrio doctor, red-tagged by the state forces — and elaborate the cause of her arrest.
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Dr. Castro’s relatives reserved FLAG as the doctor’s counsel since the arrest at her home in San Juan City. She was reportedly detained at the Intelligence Group, Camp Crame, where authorities denied access to any relatives or any lawyer.
Later on, FLAG was informed by police officers that Dr. Castro was no longer at Crame and was “brought to the airport” bound to “the court” of Butuan City, Agusan del Norte. “The scheduled flight took off without any confirmation of Dr. Castro being on board,” FLAG stated.
Requests for copies of the documents related to Dr. Castro’s arrest also went “unheeded”.
FLAG asserted that the denial of Dr. Castro’s access to her counsel and her family is a “violation of her rights under the Constitution and the law.” She was also denied her medications for hypertension and diabetes as officers hindered her sister who brought medicines and test kits.
Additionally, Dr. Gene Nisperos highlighted that the arrest warrant did not indicate her correct name; nor did the arresting personnel identify themselves properly.
Dr. Castro’s sister, Zarah Castro, stated that non-uniformed men alongside two police women barged into their home, destroying their door in the process.
“From the very beginning po, hindi po kami nakatanggap ng due process. Sa pagpasok forcibly sa aming bahay, sa hindi pagbigay ng warrant, sa hindi pagbigay ng opportunity na makausap ang abogado niya, natakot po talaga kami,” she stated.
Zarah Castro underscored the insufficiency of health workers amid the prevailing health crisis, and slammed the unjust acts against Dr. Castro despite service to far-flung communities.
PNP chief Brigadier Roderick Augustus Alba said Dr. Castro’s arrest is due to “her alleged criminal actions that constitute participation in a case of kidnapping with serious illegal detention,” not because of her alleged links to the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
However, state forces had red-tagged Dr. Castro since 2020. They accused her as the head of the National Health Bureau of the CPP-NPA. Critics rebuked PNP’s arrest and surmised that: since being a member of the CPP-NPA is not illegal, the authorities have found different ways to arrest its members and anyone linked to the rebel group.
Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) lawyer Beverly Musni detailed that Dr. Castro’s name was also among other human rights activists under charges of violation of the Philippine Act on Crime Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012. These charges are filed in the prosecutor’s office in Butuan.
UPLM pointed out the pattern of harassment and trumped-up charges against human rights workers and activists.
On February 19, Dr. Castro’s location was confirmed by her sisters. She was held incommunicado in Butuan before she was brought to a detention facility in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which has already started its probation of the “possible violations” of PNP’s arrest, has also been informed about Dr. Castro’s status.
Meanwhile, as the records (warrant of arrest, reports, and documents) related to Dr. Castro’s arrest are still not available because “the courts are closed until Monday,” FLAG stated uncertainty of the “exact circumstances of the case that has allegedly been filed against [Dr. Castro] and the reason for her arrest.”
Western Visayas Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF6-ELCAC) last Sunday, February 20, mindlessly told CHR to “refrain” from using the term “Lumad” to refer to Mindanao indigenous people (IP), the tribe Dr. Castro served. Their reason being that Lumad is coined by the rebel group.
Save Our Schools (SOS) Network clamored for the release of Dr. Castro, asserting that she had actively provided free healthcare to Lumad communities.
“The government has been continuously harassing the Lumad for decades, and this arrest has shown that it will continue to antagonize indigenous peoples and those who show their support,” called SOS Network.
RTF6-ELCAC also suggested the “judicial processes to proceed.”
In an interview with Rappler, Dr. Castro’s sister guaranteed that the CPP-NPA’s “philosophy is not congruent with what [Dr. Castro] believes in.”
FLAG also affirmed that Dr. Castro is “not a communist nor is she a terrorist,” contrary to what the police are presenting on their social media. “She is a health worker who has been helping those who need help the most.”
UP-PGH Department of Family and Community Medicine pointed out that Dr. Castro’s arrest enforces a “chilling effect that will deter doctors from serving the communities.”
“It is the people who will ultimately suffer. We refuse to accept this kind of message.”
The UP PGH department, FLAG, and other human rights groups heighten their calls to immediately release Dr. Castro, and to hold the Duterte administration accountable for their unjust and unconstitutional actions towards Dr. Castro, health workers, and human rights defenders.
#FreeNatividadCastro
Featured image courtesy of Menchi Castro
