Ex-lawmaker undeterred by criminal conviction, online attacks
While she may be keeping a lower public profile these days, former ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro still has her Facebook account set to private to spare her children from all the harassment and abuse directed at her on social media.
“My children can see that … so until now, my Facebook is private,” said the public school teacher and activist who is one of the “Talaingod 13.” She was also a member of the opposition Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives from the 17th to 19th Congress.
In a roundtable discussion with the media last week, Castro talked about the online attacks against her, which included threats, insults and false allegations.
Despite this, she said she would continue to fight for the right to education of Mindanao’s Lumad communities.
‘Child abuse’ conviction
The Talaingod 13 refers to Castro, former Bayan Muna president Saturnino Ocampo and 11 Lumad educators who were convicted in 2024 of child abuse by a Tagum City Regional Trial Court in connection with a 2018 rescue mission for Lumad students in the municipality of Talaingod, Davao del Norte, who were reportedly being harassed by a paramilitary group.
All 13 were sentenced to four up to six years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of P20,000 each for supposedly “exposing the minors to hazard” when they kept the students in their company and transported them on foot in the evening for three hours in the dark and without permission from their parents.
Convicted along with Castro and Ocampo were Ma. Eugenia Victoria Nolasco, Jesus Madamo, Meriro Poquita, Maricel Andagkit, Marcial Rendon, Marianie Aga, Jenevive Paraba, Nerhaya Talledo, Ma. Concepcion Ibarra, Nerfa Awing and Wingwing Daunsay.
In November last year, the Court of Appeals affirmed the Tagum court’s ruling, which said it found merit in the allegations that the Talaingod 13 exploited the Lumad students of Salugpongan Ta’tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center.
Framed up by detractors
Castro, who ran unsuccessfully for a Senate seat in last year’s midterm elections, said that while campaigning in Dumaguete City, she was confronted by individuals who accused her of kidnapping and child trafficking.
“I was really shocked … many people in the market saw it,” she said, recalling how she had to defend herself publicly against the allegations.
Castro also said her mugshot, or the photo taken after her arrest for the abuse case filed against her, continues to be circulated online.
“But what hurt me more was when the schools were closed. So, as a teacher, I was really worried and angry about the closure. There are no more schools for the indigenous people there,” she added.
Despite the personal attacks against her, Castro said these have only strengthened her resolve to continue advocating for the rights of Lumad communities.
“We really should further advance the rights of our indigenous people, the Lumads, so that their schools will not be destroyed again,” she said.
Du30 threat vs schools
Over 200 Lumad schools were forcibly closed upon the orders of then President Rodrigo Duterte, who had also threatened to bomb these schools in July 2017. He claimed that they had no permit from the Department of Education and were teaching children about communism and to oppose the government.
“We were deprived of free education and also of our ancestral lands. Because of this, more than 10,000 students were unable to continue their studies. Most of us were subjected to arranged marriages. I am one of them,” said Angelika Moral, a student of one of the shuttered Lumad schools.
Moral defended the Talaingod 13, saying they only tried to help the Lumad communities. “Yet, they were the ones charged. Many years have passed, but even now, justice has not been served.”
“The suffering continues because our schools were closed and because of what happened to the teachers who only tried to rescue us. The government itself should support what our teachers started, but instead, they found ways to stop those helping us,” she added.
Moral said that if their schools had remained open, their situation would have been different. “Our lives wouldn’t have been shattered, we could have continued the dreams we had.”
Liza Maza, president of the Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan or Makabayan Coalition which supports the Talaingod 13, also said the schools are still not allowed to operate, even though access to education is necessary.
“The military claims they are providing education, but shouldn’t that be the role of teachers?” Maza told the Inquirer.
“The policy of closure of Lumad schools must be reversed to allow Indigenous peoples to build and run their own schools without interference,” she said.
