THE National Youth Commission (NYC) welcomed the Tagum court’s decision regarding two personalities known to be part of the communist terrorist group (CTG) CPP-NPA-NDF.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision to file charges against those congressmen,” said Usec. Ronald Cardema, Chairman, National Youth Commission.
ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, and 11 others were sentenced to up to 6 years in prison by the Tagum City court for allegedly violating the law against child abuse.
ACT-Teachers and Bayan Muna were previously identified by former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as legal fronts of the CPP-NPA-NDF in the House of Representatives.
Therefore, according to NYC Chairman Ronald Cardema, the truth has finally come out that Castro and the Makabayan Bloc are recruiting the youth to become NPA members.
“The time was really taken by the judge to understand the details without exaggeration, and from there, they decided that the former Bayan Muna congressman and the incumbent ACT-Teachers congressman, who claim to represent the teachers in the Philippines, are indeed guilty beyond reasonable doubt,” said Cardema.
Cardema further emphasized that Castro and other legal fronts in the House can no longer hide behind the excuse of red-tagging.
It is clear from the court’s decision that they are guilty under the law.
The conviction of Castro and Ocampo stemmed from proven accusations that they took minors on a solidarity mission in Talaingod, Davao del Norte in November 2018.
For the military that arrested them, the suspects committed human trafficking.
Because of this, Cardema’s office is now working with the Duterte Youth Party-list to remove Castro as a congresswoman.
A significant reason for this is her conviction in the child abuse case.
They will appeal to the House Ethics Committee when the session resumes next week to finalize the action.
“Such shameless individuals should be removed from Congress. This is the same person who filed a grave threat case against former President Duterte? As I’ve been saying for a long time, she is the grave threat to Filipino youth,” concluded Cardema.
