Health, human rights groups launch campaign for Dr. Naty Castro’s release

Several health and human rights organizations on Monday called for the immediate release of health worker Dr. Ma. Natividad "Naty" Castro, who was arrested in San Juan City on Friday.

The “Free Dr. Naty Castro Now” campaign was launched by the Health Action for Human Rights (HAHR), the Community Medicine Practitioners and Associates Association (COMPASS), the Health Alliance for Democracy, and the Protection and Justice for all Frontline Health Workers (RPROJUST) in front of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH).

Aside from freeing Castro, the campaign demands the immediate dismissal of all “trumped-up charges” against her.

Police have accused Castro of being a ranking member of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and she is facing kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges.

“These are false accusations. She is a community doctor and a human rights advocate, not a criminal as the military perceives her to be,” said Dr. Julie Caguiat, a classmate of Castro at the UP College of Medicine.

Caguiat said that Castro provided health services to far-flung communities in Butuan, Agusan Norte and trained volunteer community health workers to treat basic diseases.

The UP College of Medicine has also defended its alumna and her work. “[Castro] has become a staunch human rights defender, specifically of the lumads and indigenous communities whom she has been attending to all these years. She is practicing what the UP has envisioned its graduates to be—community oriented using the primary health care approach intended for the underserved,” it said.

The charges were also denied by Castro’s family and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).

Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said Castro has been red-tagged for her work.

“There is a menacing pattern of red-tagging, arrests and killing of doctors and health workers in the country,” said HAHR secretary general Dr. Reginald Pamugas, noting the names of other doctors who were killed providing medical attention to the underserved areas.

“We urge the Department of Health to protect frontline doctors, especially those who have answered the government’s call to serve in isolated and remote communities,” Pamugas added.

Senator Leila De Lima also expressed her concern.

“I am deeply concerned with the manner of her arrest. I was shown photos of her placed in the undignified and unsanitary state of being made to walk around barefooted when her mugshot was taken. It was also reported that the arresting officers scaled the walls of her house and destroyed her door. She was also initially denied access to her counsel, her family, and her medications,” she said in a statement.

“Ganito na ba talaga natin tratuhin ang mamamayang taos-pusong nagsisilbi sa kapwa at bayan samantalang yung mga gahaman na sinasamantala ang pandemya upang kumamkam ay pinagtatanggol pa ng husto ni Duterte?” she added.

(Is this really how we treat a compatriot who wholeheartedly serves others and the nation, while greedy people who take advantage of the pandemic are being defended by President Duterte?)

The Department of the Interior and Local Government on Monday said the police officers who arrested Castro were just doing their job, even as the CHR has started investigating possible violations of police procedure. — BM, GMA News