Arrested community doctor Ma. Natividad Castro is now in touch with her kin, over a day after state forces hurriedly flew the doctor to Butuan City over dubious charges relating to kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
Police and military agents arrested Castro in her San Juan City residence, February 18, by virtue of warrants issued by Judge Fernando Fundalan of Branch 7 of the Regional Trial Court in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur, a city located 40 kilometers south of Butuan. Castro’s kin immediately blasted the arrest, saying that the charges were “all untrue.”
The charges are nonbailable, according to the warrant dated January 30, 2020. A copy of the warrant released to the media, however, erroneously listed Castro as “Dra. Maria Natividad.”
A quick response report from Karapatan found out that, after arrest, Castro was transferred to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center and to the PNP Intelligence Group Building inside Camp Crame, and was immediately flown to Butuan City even without a lawyer.
It was only on Saturday afternoon that Castro was able to talk with her sister and officials of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in CARAGA. The doctor is now being held in Bayugan City.
State forces accused Castro of being a high-ranking member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA). CPP spokesperson Marco Valbuena, in a statement yesterday, denied the community doctor’s supposed membership with the party.
The charges against Castro were due to her alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a member of the Civilian Active Auxiliary, a paramilitary unit which supports state troops in their counterinsurgency operations, last December 2018 in Agusan Del Norte.
Such filing of charges, however, is a usual tactic by the government to intimidate and jail its critics. In fact, just last December, the same RTC which authorized Castro's arrest voided a warrant against 17 activists in relation to a raid that the NPA conducted against paramilitary units on February 19, 2019.
Castro’s family and closest friends also blasted the government’s wrongful allegations. According to a kin, Castro has been serving as a community doctor and a human rights defender for several years already in Mindanao. There, she was able to hold numerous medical missions and health programs assisting the marginalized sectors in the rural areas.
Years prior, she stood as a member of Karapatan’s national council and served as a secretary-general of Karapatan’s chapter in CARAGA. She also advocated for the rights of the indigenous peoples, which was exemplified when she accompanied several Lumad to the United Nations in Geneva to talk about their highly militarized communities.
The Health Action for Human Rights, meanwhile, amplified its calls for the protection of human rights, noting that during the Duterte administration, health workers such as Zara Alvarez and Rose Sancela were murdered for being community health workers and rights advocates.
“There is a huge lack of doctors in the rural areas where one out of 10 Filipinos die without even being able to have a health consultation. There are only a few doctors who choose to work for the poor,” the group stated. “Why arrest her?”
In a statement, the CHR expressed “grave concern over the manner of arrest” of Castro, and ordered its Metro Manila and CARAGA offices to look into the possible violations during her arrest.
Castro is an alumna of St. Scholastica’s College Manila where she graduated in 1986. She also finished medicine in the UP College of Medicine (UPCM) in 1995. Both St. Scholastica’s College and her UPCM batch called for Castro’s immediate release.
“What she deserves is recognition and appreciation for her commitment to the welfare and human rights of our Filipino sisters and brothers who are most in need. We deplore the continuous red tagging of this government and making false accusations of innocent people,” the Manila Community of Benedictine Sisters and St. Scholastica’s College administration said in a statement. ●
