Lawyers’ group denounces arrest of Lumads, raid on retreat house
THE National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) Cebu condemned the raid and illegal arrests of Lumad students, teachers, and datus of one of the bakwit school programs of Save Our Schools (SOS) on Monday, February 15, 2021.
“The violent manner of taking custody over the Lumads, despite the presence of social workers and a specialized Philippine National Police (PNP) unit catering to women and children’s needs, may have caused distress and trauma to them, especially since the majority of the persons taken were minors,” NUPL Cebu said in a statement.
The organization said that “initial findings show that no coordination was made by the law enforcement authorities to the administrators of the retreat house before their operation nor any document or paper presented to show authority in taking custody of the 26 individuals contrary to standard protocols in rescuing alleged child victims.”
Related story: PRO 7 ‘rescues’ 19 indigenous minors from Cebu retreat house