SunStar
+ May 19, 2021 NATIONAL Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy said the “Bakwit School 7,” whose criminal charges were dismissed, must not “celebrate” yet.
Badoy said in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, May 18, 2021, that they will assist the Lumad parents, whose children were reportedly kidnapped and brought to the retreat house of the Societas Verbi Divini Philippines Southern Province, University of San Carlos-Talamban campus in Cebu City, to file a motion for reconsideration.
The NTF-Elcac official said the dismissal of the case is only a “first round,” and they will exhaust all legal actions against the respondents.
Bakwit School 7 told: Don t celebrate too early sunstar.com.ph - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sunstar.com.ph Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published May 14, 2021, 1:26 PM
Davao del Norte
Seven persons have been cleared of criminal charges in the alleged kidnapping of 19 Lumad children “to be trained as communist rebel fighters” but were rescued by the Philippine National Police (PNP) at the University of San Carlos Retreat House (USCRH) in Cebu City last Feb. 15.
In a 13-page resolution dated May 5, the Davao del Norte Office of the Provincial Prosecutor dismissed the charges filed by the PNP “for insufficiency of evidence, lack of probable cause, and being outside the territorial jurisdiction of this Office.”
“All told, it appears that there is insufficient evidence to support any of the alleged crimes of Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention, Human Trafficking, and Child Abuse committed by respondents Segundo Lagatos Melong, Benito Dalim Bay-ao, Moddie Langayed Mansimoy-at, Esmelito Paumba Oribawan, Chad Errol Booc, Roshelle Mae C. Porcadilla and Jomar Benag,” the resolution stated.
CEBU CITY – The Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Davao del Norte has ordered the release of the seven persons who were arrested last February following a controversial police operation involving a group of Lumad children at a retreat house here.
Published May 14, 2021, 4:44 PM
CEBU CITY – The Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Davao del Norte has ordered the release of the seven persons who were arrested last February following a controversial police operation involving a group of Lumad children at a retreat house here.
Complaints for alleged violation of the Child Abuse Law, Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, and kidnapping and serious illegal detention that were filed against the seven persons collectively known as “Bakwit School 7” were dismissed.
The seven persons include Chad Errol Booc, Segundo Lagatos Melong, Benito Dalim Bay-ao, Moddie Langayed Mansimoy-at, Esmelito Paumba Oribawan, Roshelle Mae C. Porcadilla and Jomar Benag.