We welcome the dismissal of the trumped-up criminal cases against Dr. Natividad “Naty” Castro by the Bayugan City Regional Trial Court Branch 7. The court’s ruling is consistent with law and reason and vindicates Doc Naty’s fundamental right to due process.
The trial court correctly reexamined the existence of probable cause in Doc Naty’s cases after her arrest. It then became clear to the court that Doc Naty did not receive any subpoena for the preliminary investigation and, hence, was deprived of her right to notice and hearing. The belated addition of her name to the complainants’ supplemental complaint-affidavit, where her supposed participation in the crime of kidnapping and serious illegal detention is not even alleged, makes it more obvious that the charge is patently trumped-up.
This practice has emerged as a way of weaponizing the law to silence dissent and repress activism. It can be recalled that fabricated charges of murder against activists Boyet Jurcales of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Windel Bolinget of Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance, and Agnes Mesina of Makabayan-Cagayan Valley, among others, were dismissed in 2021 after the court ordered the reinvestigation of the complaint, reexamined the charges and ruled that they are bereft of probable cause.
Jurcales, Bolinget and Mesina were accused of taking part in an NPA offensive and, like Doc Naty, were appalled to discover that they had been charged in court without being notified of the preliminary investigation.
Many other activists, including Karapatan chairperson Tita Lubi, are facing the same predicament in remote courts in whose territorial jurisdictions they had never even stepped foot on.
The common thread running through these malicious and false cases is the pernicious practice of red-tagging, which is now even being used by the Duterte government to defeat the people’s democratic participation in the electoral process.
Courts are called upon to keep a watchful eye over groundless indictments that lead to “repugnant” arrests and violations of the right to liberty.
Also, we ask our professional colleagues in the Department of Justice to be extra mindful to “see that justice is done” and ensure that no baseless charges are levelled against innocent individuals.
While there is a steady stream of successful legal pushbacks against nuisance charges and politically driven manufactured suits filed through unscrupulous agents of the State, the injury and damage not only to those victimized but to the “rule of law” and the integrity of our justice system may be hard to repair and restore.