Lumad leaders at the UCCP Haran compound. Photograph from DavaoToday
The Davao City prosecutor's office has dismissed for insufficiency of evidence the kidnapping with serious illegal detention complaints filed against 15 persons – religious, activists and lumad leaders – accused of keeping some 700 Manobo refugees in a church compound allegedly against their will, the independent outfit Kilab Multimedia reported.
Neither did the accused engage in trafficking, as alleged by the complainants from the Matigsalug-Manobo tribe in Sitio Inayaman, Barangay San Jose, San Fernando, Bukidnon, said the resolution penned by Prosecutor II Samuel Alencia and approved by City Prosecutor Nestor Ledesma, a copy of which was obtained by Kilab.
See also: Lumad decry airborne 'abduction' of 14 in Bukidnon but military says operation targeted 'NPA'
The claims of kidnapping and trafficking echoed the accusations hurled by the military and North Cotabato Representative Nancy Catamco against the groups and individuals who had been sheltering and providing succor to the Manobo refugees in Davao City.
This was the second legal action dismissed this week, Kilab said, following the dismissal of rebellion complaints against 13 indigenous people arrested by the military and police in Barangay White Culaman, Kitao-tao, Bukidnon late last month for allegedly being New People's Army rebels.
The 13 were released from the provincial jail in Malaybalay on September 22.
The so-called strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) suits are cases apparently intended to intimidate and burden critics into abandoning their criticism through the legal costs of litigation.
The kidnapping charges in Davao were filed against Rev. Jurie Jaime, Sheena Duazo, Hanimay Suazo, Ryan Laniba, Tony Salubre, Jimboy Marciano, Mary Ann Sapar, Jaja Necosio, Pedro Arnado, Kerlan Fanagel, Sister Stella Matutina, Sister Restita Miles, Isidro Andao, Kharlo Manano, Riuz Valle and an unspecified number of "John", "Peter" and "Mary Does."
The plaintiffs were accused of misleading the complainants into going to Davao City in the last week of January, supposedly by promising them rice, groceries and farm tools, in exchange for which they were to attend a dialogue with President Benigno Aquino III, Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao.
They were then supposedly provided free transportation and taken to the Haran Mission House of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines at Fr. Selga St. in Davao City where, not only were the promised goods not given, but they were also allegedly indoctrinated and made to join an anti-military rally.
Until they returned home to Bukidnon in late February, the complainants claimed they were barred from leaving the UCCP compound. They said they decided to escape, but were held back because they lacked the fare money home although they also said "one of them was able to escape the compound but was caught at the Davao terminal and brought back to the compound."
However, the prosecutor, noting that "it is essential in the crime of illegal detention that there be actual confinement or restriction" of the victims, said the fact that one of them managed "to leave the premises where she was allegedly confined, the crime of illegal detention cannot rise because she was not deprived of her liberty."
The resolution also pointed out that the Haran compound "is right near the Bankerohan Market," thus the claims of a mass kidnapping "in the heart of the city and confinement in a church compound is, to say the least, not plausible."
"It would have been hard not to notice this forced confinement" and "there were no armed guards to restrict their movement," it added.
The resolution also noted that none of the alleged kidnappers were properly identified except through pictures taken of them facilitating a dialogue.
As for the trafficking claims, the resolution said, none of the qualifiers of the crime – "prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, involuntary servitude, debt bondage or armed activity" – were evident.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/117966/davao-prosecutor-dismisses-kidnap-complaint-vs-lumad-guardians
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