San Juan City Police on Friday morning arrested physician Natividad “Naty” Castro from her home. Without access to family or lawyers, Castro was flown first to Butuan City and then moved to Bayugan City in Agusan del Sur.
The doctor is facing charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention. Later it was revealed there were at least two more charges – supposed violation of Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, and the expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.
Castro’s background speaks of her competence – she graduated valedictorian in grade school (College of the Holy Spirit in Mendiola) and high school (St. Scholastica’s College Manila), both Catholic schools. She was awarded one of the most outstanding graduates of her high school. She graduated cum laude in BS Zoology from UP Diliman and then completed her medical training at the UP-PGH College of Medicine in 1995.
Her subsequent work speaks of her commitment – as a health worker, she set up community health centers and programs in Mindanao. Years ago, she brought lumad who were militarization victims to the United Nations in Geneva. She spoke at this event, seeking help for the indigenous people.
“Naty is not an ordinary doctor,” her classmates in medical school said in a statement calling for her immediate release for the immediate dropping of her cases. “She is a servant leader actively involved in health and human rights and working towards providing health care for all by serving in rural and geographical areas.”
She blazed a trail on being aware of what is happening, her classmates said, while they are now just trying to catch up. She espoused simple living, a diligent struggle, and plain service every day.
That is not what the police are saying. They accuse Castro of being a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army and head of its health bureau. Being a CPP-NPA member is not a crime, says the Free Legal Assistance Group who is now helping Castro. Nonetheless, her family and lawyers categorically deny she is a member of the communist group.
Castro is not the first individual to be red-tagged; not the first whose rights would be violated in her arrest and detention. She is not the first person to stand out – stick out, for some – for her work among the poor and be accused of sinister things. There have been many, and there will be more.
Such is the record of this outgoing administration. This is the same set of officials who so generously fund and support the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict that has no visible task aside from shaming individuals, even those who put up pantries so the poor may eat, branding them as enemies of the state, and sowing fear among those who dare criticize the government or its leaders.
The administration has done many unprecedented things in the past few years. It has unilaterally abrogated an agreement that guarantees a safe space for the country’s premier university, because it supposedly breeds the next generation of communist rebels. It has also exerted its influence on higher education authorities to remove books deemed undesirable for the youth just because they talk about the insurgency.
The public outrage over the case of Dr. Castro should shine a spotlight on the evil deeds being done in the name of the fight against communism, and the many excesses committed by officials. Castro’s case is made ignominious by the fact that she is a health worker – a group of professionals who have sacrificed and suffered much during this pandemic.
We lament, as well, those who were similarly taken and held under the same claims but whose families and friends do not have the ability to go public with the injustice. Their lives and safety are at stake, too, and they demand equal attention.
Many Filipinos could be distracted by the circus that is the coming elections and the continued decline in COVID-19 cases. But we must not be blind to the grim realities happening right under our noses. This is a truly ugly legacy that, if left to persist, would be the hallmark of a leader in the twilight of his power.
