14-year-old girl sues Bayan Muna rep

DAVAO CITY—A 14-year old Manobo girl on Tuesday filed serious illegal detention and child abuse complaints against Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate and several militant and “lumad” (indigenous) leaders at the prosecutor’s office here.

The complaints were based on the affidavit issued by the girl who militant group Karapatan had claimed to have been raped by soldiers and among Manobo residents who fled their communities in Talaingod, Davao del Norte province, due to heavy military presence.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte came into Zarate’s defense, saying the lawmaker “has nothing to do with it.”

“He was there to check and talk to the lumad,” Duterte told reporters on Tuesday night.

In the charge sheet, SPO1 Ronilo Tirasol of the San Pedro police station here, said “an investigation of the case was conducted” and found “evidence and documents” that could sustain the case against Zarate, lumad leaders Kerlan Fanagel and Datu Ginumao Andil, militant leaders Sheena Duazo, Tony Salubre and Joel Virador; and two others.

In her complaint, the 14-year old said she had wanted to leave Haran Center, which is operated by the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and go home to Talaingod with her parents, but those who were running the facility would not allow them to do so.

Her mother said militants brought her and her daughter to the Haran Center on July 7 to help them file complaints against the soldier who abused the 14-year old.

The two were spirited away from the facility by North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco, who led the “rescue” of the lumad on July 23. The incident ended in violence when Catamco, along with policemen, forcibly entered the place.

Weeks after, the girl is claiming that they were held there against their will.

Zarate described the charges as trumped-up and “part of the continuing vilification campaign against those who support the legitimate cause of the lumad ‘bakwits’ (evacuees).”

“The people behind these charges are the same reactionary elements behind the misrepresentation of the findings of UN Special Rapporteur Chaloka Beyani, who said that the bakwits are not trafficked persons and were in fact manipulated to return to their communities against their will,” he said.

“These manipulators are mistaken if they believed that these false charges will deter or scare us in pursuing our advocacies, particularly the defense and advancement of human rights.”

Despite the filing of the complaint, Zarate said he would continue to stand up for the case of the lumad. He said he had not yet received a copy of the complaints, but learned about the charges from “Davao media friends.” Allan A. Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao