UP faculty union condemns human rights worker Doc Naty’s arrest

Dr. Naty Castro was allegedly arrested in her San Juan home without due process, and was detained 1,200 km away at Agusan del Sur. Images: Jun Castro (Facebook)
Dr. Naty Castro was allegedly arrested in her San Juan home without due process, and was detained 1,200 km away at Agusan del Sur. Images: Jun Castro (Facebook)

The University of the Philippines’ (UP) recognized union for faculty members and research and extension staff condemned the arrest of health worker, Dr. Naty Castro, who was taken into custody by police when authorities forcibly entered her home in San Juan City.

The Manila chapter of the All UP Academic Employees Union called the arrest of Castro, a long-time community doctor in Mindanao, “arbitrary” and added that it “highlighted the dangers of the Duterte government’s Anti-Terrorism Law, which can be weaponized against anyone, including healthcare workers.”

Castro is an alumna of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, where she graduated cum laude in 1995.

The doctor was charged by the police with kidnapping and serious illegal detention.

“The all-too familiar trumped up charges, faulty arrest warrant, and other procedural violations reinforce the culture of impunity that has come to define this Tokhang regime,” the union wrote.

Castro was allegedly served a faulty warrant at the time of her arrest, as it misspelled her name.

“Dr. Castro’s arrest in the wake of a national polls also sends a chilling effect on free speech and choice, and emboldens perpetrators of rights violations and election-related violence. The detention of Dr. Naty, a long-time community doctor, also rubs salt on the wound of overworked healthcare workers across the country who have been calling on the government for additional benefits and resources.”

Police further alleged that Dr. Castro, who served as a physician to indigenous communities, was a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines and served as head of the New People’s Army’s National Health Bureau.

Yet human rights organization Karapatan insisted that these were trumped-up charges against the health worker, and called on the police to respect Castro’s rights.

“Dr. Naty is a known human rights and health worker in Mindanao, where she helped set up community centers and programs and trained many human rights workers for several years. She had led several fact-finding missions and assisted victims of human rights violations in the region,” the group said.

We demand the immediate release of Dr. Naty Castro. Her unjust incarceration is a continuing affront to everything the university espouses. We welcome the statement of the UP Manila community but challenge the UP administration at the System and constituent university levels to step up their efforts. There is an imperative to uphold academic freedom and institutionalize the UP-DND Accord, ensure the safety of the university community in and out of campus, and reject any form of harassment or intrusion by police and military operatives now more than ever.”

The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) also said, “Doc Naty also reserves all her rights to pursue legal remedies against those police officers who violated her rights with impunity and went against established procedure when they took her from her home in San Juan on February 18, 2022, denied her access to counsel and family, and transported her without notifying any family member or counsel.”

After a day of radio silence, police finally revealed that Castro is being detained at the Bayugan City police station in Agusan del Sur, 1,200km away from Manila.

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