Duterte backs arrest of Satur Ocampo, claims Bayan Muna is a communist front

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday backed the arrest of former Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo and several others on kidnapping and trafficking charges last week.

Ocampo, ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro, and several others were arrested by security forces on November 28 while on their way to a Lumad school in Talaingod town that was allegedly padlocked by paramilitary group Alamara.

The group said it was part of a national solidarity mission that was going to deliver food and school supplies to the Lumad community, but the police said Ocampo and company failed to present documents showing parental consent for the minors who were with them at the time of the arrest.

"You know an ordinary person, lalo na kung senador ka, you must be aware that you cannot remove children from one community to another without the consent of the parents," Duterte told reporters in Malacañang. "That is actually kidnapping."

The President said the police "did the right thing, irrespective of the intention."

"You know they might have been motivated by all of the good intentions in the world. But there is the intent which is criminal in bringing out and transferring children from one area to another especially [and] eventually using them [children] in their struggle," he said.

Duterte said that Ocampo and his companions put the children's safety at risk.

"[Y]ou bring in children into a territory baka magkaupakan pa, magkabarilan, eh you put in danger everybody," he said.

He also said that the Bayan Muna party-list is a front for the communist movement.

"Bayan [Muna] is a front of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Bakit pa tayo mag-drama? Alam natin that KMU [Kilusang Mayo Uno], ‘yan Gabriela, they’re all communist fronts or being used by the communists. Alam ninyo lahat ‘yan," Duterte said.

Ocampo and Castro returned to Manila on Sunday after a Tagum City court allowed them to post bail. They have since vowed to file counter charges against members of the police and military involved in their arrest and detention. — BM, GMA News