THE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the criminal convictions of former Bayan Muna representative Satur Ocampo and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT-Teachers) representative France Castro for child abuse in connection with the alleged trafficking of 14 minors in Talaingod, Davao del Norte, in 2018. In a decision, the appellate court sustained the Tagum City Regional Trial Court Branch 2 ruling, which sentenced Castro and Ocampo to imprisonment ranging from four to six years for violating Republic Act (RA) 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act. The case stemmed from a trafficking complaint filed against Castro, Ocampo and 17 others over their participation in a National Solidarity Mission in Talaingod in November 2018. Authorities accused members of the group of unlawfully taking minors during the mission. The solidarity mission, which involved 74 participants, sought to deliver food and other forms of assistance to Lumad schools and teachers, and to look into alleged human rights violations following the forced padlocking of the Salugpongan Community Center by the paramilitary group Alamara. In upholding the conviction, the CA agreed with the trial court’s findings that the accused were criminally liable under RA 7610 for acts committed during the mission. Police earlier claimed that the mission was not coordinated with authorities and alleged that participants fetched students and teachers at night, which they characterized as kidnapping. However, the so-called Talaingod 13 and Indigenous peoples’ rights groups have consistently denied the accusations, maintaining that the mission was properly coordinated with local officials and that the minors were not abducted.