In a letter
hand-carried by the relatives, the health workers known as the Morong
43 reiterated their appeal to the SC to act on their case.
“These detained health
workers are seeking an immediate review of the legality of their
arrest and continuing detention,” said Carlos Montemayor, spokesperson
of the Free the 43 Health Workers!
Alliance.
“The SC can also put
an end to the arbitrary arrests propped up by planted evidence and
torture-obtained testimonies that have become the unholy practice of
the Armed Forces of the Philippines in its counter-insurgency
program.”
The Morong 43 was
arrested through a raid led by the
AFP early morning of
February 6, 2010 as
the group was having breakfast in preparation for their disaster
preparedness training. The basis for the raid was a faulty search
warrant. Aside from being detained and tortured, other human right
violations included the denial of legal counsel.
“The overwhelming
evidence of wanton violations of basic human rights and denial of due
process has already been exposed in detail by Justice Secretary Leila
de Lima when she was still at the helm of the Commission on Human
Rights.” Montemayor added.
“Every day of further
delay is a day of injustice, not just for the detained but also for
their families, who have been wrongfully made to suffer a similar
torture of seeing their loved ones in jail.”
The group is hoping
that their letter to the SC justices will make their appeal for
judicious action more compelling.
“As the Aquino
administration has extended Oplan Bantay-Laya, which has been the
policy that gave license to military abuses against civilians, many
more are in danger of meeting the same fate as the Morong 43. The
Supreme Court can put an end to this.”
