EDITORIAL - Real threats and no threats

Last February 15, authorities raided a retreat house in a university, convinced they were rescuing indigent minors from a group of recruiters who not only snatched them from their parents but were also indoctrinating them to be followers of the communist cause.

The incident became infamous not only because of the sensitive nature of the accusations, and because children were involved, but also because the operation was livestreamed in social media.

Last week the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Davao del Norte dismissed the charges against seven people who were arrested that day and accused of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, human trafficking, and child abuse.

A columnist of this newspaper, who received a copy of the Davao prosecutor’s resolution, precisely sums up what happened, or should have happened that day.

“Had good intentions and cooler and saner heads prevailed, the Lumad Bakwit School conundrum last February could have been resolved peacefully and quietly with the welfare of the parents and the children adequately protected,” the columnist wrote.

This incident shows us how easy it is for some people to be branded as communists, a phenomenon we now call red-tagging, and how easy it is for some government agencies to immediately come to damning conclusions.

Because as dastardly as the accusations were, it seems there really wasn’t enough evidence to prove any of the accused did the things they were charged for. No witness could identify any of the accused as the ones who took the minors from Davao del Norte. Another witness who claimed that the children were taught communist principles did not particularly say any of the seven did the actual teaching.

It is true that it is the mandate of some government agencies to protect national security, even at the expense of some personal freedoms. But it is also required of them to be able to tell who the actual threats are.

Determining who is a threat to our democracy and who isn’t is becoming more and more important today given the ease with which some government agencies can now declare anyone a terrorist as well as the looming threat of the anti-terror law and its very vague provisions.