(Eagle News) — The Palace on Monday, Dec. 3, distanced itself from Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., who called the filing of human trafficking charges against Satur Ocampo “idiotic.”
According to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, the Palace views Locsin’s comment as “a personal sentiment given the fact that he and former Congressman Satur Ocampo are friends and were both together in (the House of Representatives).”
Ocampo and Locsin were members of the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2010.
Locsin was representative of Makati City, while Ocampo was representative of the Bayan Muna party-list.
“Friendship, however, does not give birth to the conclusive conclusion that a person charged of a crime is innocent nor does a charge sheet automatically make such individual guilty thereof. That is precisely why the Constitution grants every citizen the presumption of innocence and burdens the State to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt,” Panelo said.
According to Panelo, Ocampo’s group was being given due process.
In fact, he said “the request of Mr. Ocampo and his group to have a preliminary investigation to rebut the allegations and to proffer evidence in support of their defense was granted by (the) Prosecutor’s Office in Tagum City.”
“Presently, they are enjoying their liberty on account of the bail posted by them in court,” Panelo said.
In a Tweet, Locsin slammed the human trafficking charges filed against Ocampo, calling them “bull****.”
“I won’t even bother to get the other side. I know Satur. We protected him in our Congress against warrant of arrest,” he had said.
Ocampo and several others were charged after being intercepted by the military in a checkpoint in Talaingod, Davao.
His group, however, argued that they were merely rescuing minors who had been affected by the shutdown of a community center by a paramilitary group in the area.
