Arrest of ‘Dok’ Castro not case of red-tagging

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 22, 2022): Arrest of ‘Dok’ Castro not case of red-tagging (By Filane Mikee Cervantes)

Dr. Maria Natividad Castro (File photo)

Malacañang on Tuesday said the arrest of Dr. Maria Natividad Castro was not a case of red-tagging, adding that proper procedures were followed by the authorities.

In a press briefing, Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles said Castro was arrested based on a warrant issued by a Regional Trial Court (RTC) for serious illegal detention and kidnapping.

"May (there is) specific crime that was the cause of the warrant of arrest issued by the RTC court," Nograles said. "Hindi siya case ng (It’s not) red-tagging."

Nograles said all law enforcement authorities maintained that all legal protocols and procedures were followed in arresting Castro.

"If they did not agree with the findings ng (of) prosecutor, they also had legal remedies after that hanggang dumating na nga sa korte at finile at sinampa sa korte (until it was filed in court)," Nograles said.

Castro was allegedly involved in the felonious kidnapping of a member of the Civilian Active Auxiliary (CAA), detained the victim in an unidentified location, and threatened him on Dec. 29, 2018, in Barangay Kolambungan, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur.

Meanwhile, the Western Visayas Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF6-ELCAC) said instead of condemning the arrest of a doctor, who has been identified as a Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) official, the more important issue is how even innocent civilians are being victimized by communist terrorist groups.

Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, RTF 6-ELCAC spokesperson, said Castro was nabbed in San Juan City on Friday morning on the basis of a legitimate and judicially issued court warrant.

"It makes no difference if she graduated top of her class from St. Scholastica’s College or the UP-PGH (University of the Philippines - Philippine General Hospital). Nor does it matter which awards she won. A medical license and an exemplary academic record do not grant anyone immunity from the law,” Gonzales said.

Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy, National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict spokesperson for sectoral concerns, said Castro, alias Ka Yammy/Ka Ami/Dok, is not a simple member of the CPP-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

“She is a Central Committee member of the CPP-NPA-NDF. She is also secretary general of a terrorist front, Karapatan-Caraga that lawyers for NPA (rebels),” Badoy said in a statement.

Badoy said Castro “is in the inner sanctum of this terrorist organization and is one of the chief architects of some of the most atrocious crimes committed on the most helpless among us: human trafficking, recruitment, radicalization, kidnapping, murder, homicide, terrorist financing, sexual abuse, child abuse, slavery, etc. She is among the most guilty”.

In a press conference on Monday, former CPP-NPA-NDF member Gleceria Balangiao, liaison officer of the Rural Missionary of the Philippines-Northern Mindanao Region, said Castro is an active member, recruiter, trainer and fundraiser of the communist organization.

Balangiao, alias Ka Inday, said she personally met Castro several times between 2006 and 2009 during meetings and trainings of NPA fighters on “first aid” treatment for wounded terrorists.

She said she first met the lady doctor in Cagayan de Oro where Castro works and gives trainings in community-based areas controlled by the NPA.

Balangiao added that Castro is also into "recruiting health professionals" to join the terrorist movement as "medics".

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168329