Kilusan.Net

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today announced the holding of internationally coordinated actions to mark the 9th month in detention of the Morong 43 and to press for their immediate release.
Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes, Jr. said that the actions will be held in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco in the United States, Ottawa and Vancouver, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Denmark and the Netherlands. In the Philippines, the supporters o f the 43 health workers will hold a caravan to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan.

“On the ninth month of their detention, various organizations and peoples of the world are calling on the Aquino administration to withdraw the cases against the Morong 43 and see to their immediate release. Nine-months of an unjust detention is nine months too long,” Reyes said.

“Another day in detention is another day justice is denied,” the Bayan leader said.

The 43 health workers have gained widespread international support from various human rights groups, lawyers groups and peoples organizations. Their cases have been brought to the attention of the United Nations and other international bodies.

In the 9 months of their detention, two detainees have already given birth this year. Both women are now under hospital detention at the Philippine General Hospital.

In the Philippines, the local supporters of the 43 will hold a simple religious service and lunch with the detainees at the BJMP facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan. The detainees have been staying there since May 1 after the Morong Court ordered their transfer from the military’s Camp Capinpin where they were initially detained.

The Department of Justice has submitted a confidential memorandum to President Benigno Aquino III on the case of the Morong 43. Aquino has publicly admitted that the arrests and searches may have been illegal and are considered “fruits of the poisonous tree”.

“The president has a moral obligation to see to it that justice is not further denied the 43 health workers. It is our hope that the detainees are released before Christmas so that they can be reunited with their families,” Reyes said.

Bayan said that the Aquino government can do two things to cause the release of the 43 health workers.

“The Aquino government through the Office of the Solicitor General, can concur with the appeal before the Supreme Court filed by the lawyers of the 43 on the question of the legality of the arrests of the health workers. The OSG can concur with the Morong 43 on their petition for habeas corpus which was dismissed by the Court of Appeals after a very close vote,” Reyes said.

“The Aquino government, through the Department of Justice, can also withdraw the cases against the 43 pending before the Morong RTC and MTC. This can also cause the release of the detained health workers,” Reyes added.