DILG defends PNP, slams critics over arrest of Dr. Naty Castro; CHR probing possible violations

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday said the police officers who arrested health worker Dr. Natividad Castro were just doing their job, even as the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has started investigating possible violations of police procedure.

In a statement, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año pointed out that Philippine National Police (PNP) officers were just performing their duties when they served the warrant of arrest against the doctor on Friday.

“The PNP was just doing their jobs. Why gang up on them? This was not a warrantless arrest. The RTC issued a warrant and it’s their duty to serve it,” he said.

“The basis of Castro’s arrest by the PNP is a judicially issued warrant based on the criminal charges against her,” he added.

Año said Judge Fernando Fudalan of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 7 in Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur issued the warrant.

Castro, an advocate of Lumad communities in Mindanao, was arrested by PNP operatives on Friday in San Juan City.

Police said Castro is a ranking member of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and facing kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges. This has been denied by her family and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).

In a Facebook post last week, Jun Castro, brother of the arrested doctor, appealed for help and said the charges are "all untrue."

FLAG, NUPL

Año also hit back at FLAG and the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) after the groups raised concerns on the arrest of doctors.

“FLAG, the NUPL and other lawyers of Castro had every opportunity to quash the charges against her at the level of the City Prosecutor during the preliminary investigation and even with the court,” he said.

For him, these groups could have used legal remedies to appeal the arrest of Castro “instead of maligning the PNP, the judicial system and making a media circus out of this issue.”

According to Año, Castro is now under the custody of the court and is detained at the Bayugan City Police Station where her lawyers can visit her to prepare for her defense.

FLAG on Sunday however questioned the accuracy of the arrest warrant for Castro.

"Her name does not even appear to be her name in the alleged warrant," lawyer Wilfred Asis of FLAG Caraga said in Vonne Aquino's report on 24 Oras Weekend on Sunday.

CHR

Año added that the CHR is welcome to investigate the case but he lamented “the zeal of the CHR to prejudge the PNP.”

The CHR on Saturday said Castro has been red tagged for her work. It also said it has deployed a quick response team to the National Capital Region and Caraga and is conducting a motu propio investigation to check "on the reports received that indicate possible violations of the Philippine National Police rules of procedure, among others."

In an interview on ANC on Monday, CHR Chairperson Leah Tanadora-Armamento said the arrest of Castro by the PNP and Armed Forces intelligence operatives was valid as there was a warrant of arrest presented. However, what they are looking at is the way authorities conducted the arrest.

“It seems that there were some police procedures that were not followed. At the same time, we are continuously monitoring the way that she is being treated because we don’t want that she’ll be a victim of torture or enforce disappearance which are against our laws,” she said.

“There was an allegation that some are not even in uniform, they are not properly identified and then the force employed is more than it is required. There are protocols in the conduct of the arrest. We are looking into this whether our arresting officers followed the rule of procedure,” Armamento added.

Should the CHR find any arrest violation, Armamento said they could file administrative or criminal charges against erring police officers or the team who conducted the arrest.

Armamento said representatives from CHR-Caraga are currently with Castro to monitor her condition.

FLAG said Sunday that they and the family members of Castro were able to meet with and spend time with her.

Armamento narrated that Castro’s family flew into Butuan City and they were transported to Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur, along with the CHR Quick Reaction Team to accompany them.

“You have to be there to ensure that the police will respect her rights especially rights to counsel, rights against torture, rights against enforce disappearance and her testimony might be taken without her consent or trumped-up charges may be done to her,” she said.

FLAG said they will pursue legal remedies against those who have red-tagged and continue to red-tag Castro, and they will also secure her freedom or the immediate dismissal of the case against her.

The CPP on Saturday condemned the "unlawful arrest and unjust detention" of Castro, stressing she should be released immediately and charges against her should be dropped.

In a statement, CPP Information Officer Marco Valbuena said Castro was a victim of the President Rodrigo Duterte administration’s “war of terror against the people” and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Castro's batchmates in medical school also demanded that she be released from detention immediately, saying the charges against her were related to her work.

Meanwhile, the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) on Sunday called for justice and expressed concern over the arrest of Castro who is an alumna of UPM College of Medicine Class 1995.

Castro also expressed her gratitude to those who have been helping her, and for the outpouring of public support. —KG, GMA News