MANILA, Philippines—After 10 months in jail, the so-called Morong 43, a group of health workers arrested by the Arroyo administration on suspicion of being communist rebels, came a step closer to being freed Friday after President Aquino directed the Department of Justice to drop the charges against them.
Tears and thunderous applause greeted Aquino's announcement at the Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, where 38 of the 43 community-based health workers are detained.
Five others are being held in Camp Capinpin under the custody of the military. The five supposedly admitted to being members of the New People’s Army.
Aquino's order came on the eighth day of the detainees' hunger strike to press the administration to free them. His announcement that he has ordered the Department of Justice to withdraw the charges against the health workers ended the hunger strike that had rendered the detainees weak and sent some of them to the hospital.
Witnesses said the women detainees, some of them weak and suffering from high blood pressure, whooped with joy and were energized when they heard Aquino's announcement on television.
Shortly after the announcement was made, the 23 women detainees issued a hastily written statement expressing gratitude to their supporters here and abroad.
“Ang order mula kay Pangulong Noynoy na i-withdraw ang charges sa amin ay isang tagumpay hindi lang po sa amin, kundi sa mga mamamayang naghahangad ng katarungan at karapatan sa sapat na serbisyong pangkalusugan (The order from President Noynoy to withdraw the charges against us is not a triumph for us only but also for our countrymen who yearn for justice and adequate health services),” the women said.
“Sana po sa simula ngayon ng Human Rights Day tuloy tuloy na ipaglaban ang ating karapatang pantao at sana ay pangunahan ito ng gobyerno sa kanyang pagtahak sa 'daang matuwid (It is hoped that starting on Human Rights Day the government would lead in upholding our human rights as it negotiates the ‘straight path),” the statement said.
The statement ended on a cheery note: “Muli, marami pong salamat. Kulang po ang isang notebook sa dami ng gusto naming pasalamatan (Again, many thanks. A whole notebook is not enough to hold the names of the many we want to give thanks to). Merry Christmas. With love, Morong 43.”
At the men's detention center, the detainees were also overcome with emotion and tears. The news reached the detainees while they were giving on-camera interviews for the first time since they were arrested in February.
The positive development from Malacañang removed the pall that hovered over the receiving area and was greeted by claps from both the detainees and their guards.
Gary Liberal, a nurse at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, said it appeared that their hunger strike, their perseverance, and their relatives' and supporters' work helped pressure the Aquino administration to withdraw the charges against them.
He also thanked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for her work on their behalf. De Lima was the head of the Commission on Human Rights when the 43 were arrested and had said that their arrest by military agents was illegal.
“I would like to thank Secretary de Lima. She knew our case right from the start,” Liberal said.
While they admitted that the President's announcement was a big step toward their release, the detainees said they wanted to see documents that would concretize his words. Their applause upon hearing the news of Aquino's order was followed by cautiously optimistic statements.
“I can only say that I am free when I am out of Bicutan,” Julius Duano told the Inquirer. Duano, a community health worker based in Masbate, said his wife gave birth to their first child while he was in prison. He pointed that he and his wife would name their son only when he is released.
With the President's announcement, there is no reason for the justice department to drag its feet on the case, Jules Matibag, the 43's lawyer said.
“This is a vindication that my clients are innocent of the trumped-up charges against them,” he said. “This announcement was made because my clients persevered in those 10 months. This victory is my clients' victory and their supporters here and abroad.”
The 43 health workers were arrested by the military on February 6 while they were attending a seminar on first medical response at a resort in Morong, Rizal.
The 43 were accused of being members of the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
The military charged them with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, charges that the 43 have denied.
Aquino, in his speech, said members of the Morong 43 that have outstanding warrants for other charges would still have to face those charges.
Matibag said none of his clients have outstanding warrants issued by the government. He noted that state prosecutors and the military failed to show any evidence that any of his clients had other cases aside from the illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed against them in February.
Matibag said he would work to have the 43 released before Christmas so that they can spend the holidays with their families.
“We won't allow that they will not be freed in time for Christmas,” Matibag said.
The Justice department can file the motion to withdraw information on Monday.
“The court holiday will start on Wednesday or Thursday,” he said.
Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr. said those responsible for the illegal detention of the health workers should be held accountable.
“After the release of the 43 should come accountability of those responsible for the violation of their rights, from the illegal arrests, defective warrants, torture, illegal inquest and detention,” he said.
First posted 00:55:55 (Mla time) December 11, 2010 Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines –The Philippine Army on Friday said the order of President Benigno Aquino III to withdraw the case of the 43 detained health workers would not affect their counter-insurgency efforts.
Army spokesman Colonel Antonio Parlade said the military will accept whatever decision their commander-in-chief makes regarding the case of the 43 health workers, dubbed as the Morong 43 in reference to the place where they were arrested—Morong in Rizal province—early February this year for their alleged involvement with the New People’s Army.
“Whatever the decision of the president is, okay lang yun, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are NPAs…who were undergoing training,” Parlade told reporters.
“The arrest might have been impaired by a technicality, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are not health workers,” he added.
On Friday, Aquino ordered the Department of Justice to withdraw the case against the Morong 43 on grounds that their right to due process was denied them.
The military spokesman said that they would step up their counterinsurgency effort including tactics operations and improve their legal procedures.
“Remember many of those apprehended in Morong had already been apprehended before. But that’s the nature of our democracy; if any loophole in an arrest is detected, our justice system will set a suspect free,” Parlade said.
According to Parlade, only two of the 43 arrested suspects had standing warrants of arrest for murder charges when they were apprehended by joint operatives of the Philippine National Police and military. However, he insisted that the others were arrested because they were caught red-handed with paraphernalia for producing explosives.
First posted 16:51:01 (Mla time) December 10, 2010 Katherine Evangelista
INQUIRER.net
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—The inclusion of the names of two “desaparecidos” (victims of enforced disappearances) in Malacañang amnesty list has insulted their families, saying the Aquino administration should stop using them to trumpet the presidential reprieve.
The families of Leo Velasco and Prudencio Calubid, who went missing in 2007 and 2006, respectively, added that their inclusion in the proclamation was meant to overshadow the issue of human rights violations.
“The Office of the President should stop using my father’s name, Leo Velasco, and Prudencio Calubid’s to trophy its proposed amnesty,” Lorena Santos, Velasco’s daughter and deputy secretary general of Families of the Disappeared for Justice said, as a response to the President’s amnesty proclamation.
“The Presidential Proclamation for amnesty to these people is an insult for us families who continue to search for them,” she added.
“We have long been in search for our missing fathers and justice has never been rendered.”
Velasco and Calubid were consultants for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to the peace process. Calubid and Velasco are two of the 11 NDFP consultants and staffs who were victims of enforced disappearances.
Instead of granting them amnesty, Santos said that the Aquino administration should surface victims of enforced disappearances.
First posted 17:28:37 (Mla time) December 07, 2010 Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
INQUIRER.net
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