Various democratic organizations along with Lumad and indigenous groups rained condemnation against a petition a fake Lumad group filed against Rep. France Castro no less on International Human Rights Day.

Castro said this is yet another harassment against her, similar to the charges against her and the Talaingod 13 for rescuing teachers and students at a Lumad school amid militarization.

“We know the perpetrators of this harassment,” she said. “These are the same individuals exposed as human rights violators and plunderers of public funds.”

She asserted that these individuals acted to “retaliate and cover up their crimes against the people.”

“The killings under Duterte’s sham drug war and VP Duterte’s misuse of confidential funds have been widely exposed in the Quad Committee. The VP is now facing impeachment while the International Criminal Court (ICC) looms over the elder Duterte. Thus they are now mobilizing their fellow red-taggers in NTF-ELCAC to harass people like us who exposed their misdeeds,” she added.

Former Bayan Muna Partylist representative Atty. Karlos Zarate also referred to the case filed by the fake Lumad organization against Rep. Castro as “political retaliation.”

“This case is a desperate scheme formulated and enforced by fascist forces with the real aim of suppressing Rep. Castro, who led the exposure and calls for the abolition of confidential and intelligence funds that are essentially pork barrel funds,” Zarate said.

He noted that this holds no merit as the verdict on the fabricated charges against Rep. Castro is not yet final and is still pending at the Court of Appeals. Thus, the Congress ethics committee is not obligated nor has basis to act on the petition. According to its own rules, the committee must defer any action against a representative with a pending complaint until a final verdict is made.

“The committee will clearly not act on baseless complaints while the matter is still under appeal,” Zarate stated.

“This absurd accusation merely serves as a smokescreen for the state’s heinous crimes against indigenous peoples, who have for decades been bombed, killed, and silenced for their opposition to large mining operations and landgrabbing,” Koalisyong Makabayan president and senatorial candidate Liza Maza said.

“The ones needing indictment and imprisonment are those who violate the rights of Lumad people, not those who teach, defend, and serve them. We will continue to fight for indigenous people’s rights and justice for the Talaingod 13,” ACT Teachers Party first nominee Antonio Tinio said.

“We will persist in demanding for justice, not only for ourselves but for all Lumad victims of abuse. We will not stop fighting until we achieve justice,” Castro concluded.