Environmental activists Jhed Tamano (in yellow shirt) and Jonila Castro issue a short statement to the media after meeting with human rights officials on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, at the Commission on Human Rights headquarters in Quezon City after a press conference by the NTF-ELCAC in Bulacan. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday to reconsider its recommendation to charge them with grave oral defamation for retracting their sworn statements that they both yielded to authorities after deciding to leave the “leftist movement.”
“Being the victims who have suffered brutal military abductions, fake surrenders, and psychological torture, [we are] disappointed that those who should be asked for help have become instruments of oppression and lies,” Castro and Tamano said in a joint statement.
On Sept. 2 last year, both went missing, prompting the Commission on Human Rights to conduct an investigation. On Sept. 15, authorities said the youth activists were “safe and sound” after they supposedly yielded to the Philippine Army’s 70th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan.
But when they were presented to the media on Sept. 19, Castro and Tamano accused the military of kidnapping them and forcing them to say they voluntarily surrendered to the 70th IB in their sworn statements.
In a 15-page resolution, the DOJ panel of prosecutors dismissed the complaint for perjury filed by Lt. Col. Ronnel dela Cruz, the 70th IB commanding officer, against the pair.
“The real issue in this case is the statements spoken by respondents during the press conference, which are directly contradictory to their [sworn statements]. Thus, based on the facts and evidence on record, we find probable cause to indict respondents for grave oral defamation,” the DOJ said.
‘Serious, insulting nature’
The prosecutors noted that oral defamation becomes grave “when it is of a serious or insulting nature.”
They added Castro and Tamano’s statements were considered “serious slander” because “they consciously, intentionally and on purpose waited and chose the press conference, which would be held in public to air their grievance and plight.”
The DOJ also disagreed with the pair’s argument that they executed their affidavit under duress or that they were kidnapped as they “could not specifically identify and name their abductors but merely insinuate that they are military men.”