Military to allow International Red Cross members to visit 'Morong 43'

MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said yesterday it will allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the so-called “Morong 43” in its detention facility in Tanay to prove that the suspected rebels are being well treated.

AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said the ICRC has already coordinated with the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division about the visit, which may take place either today or on Friday.

“The Second Division is waiting for their final coordination but definitely, they will be allowed to visit the detention facility,” Brawner told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.

He said the ICRC wants to know if the detainees are being fed and if they were provided with adequate facilities such as bathrooms.

However, he expressed confidence that the ICRC representatives would be satisfied with what they are going to see in the detention facility.

“The AFP is not hiding anything. We will show them the real conditions of the detainees,” Brawner said, adding that the military is open to suggestions that would improve the conditions of the suspected rebels.

On Tuesday, Jean-Daniel Tauxe, head of the ICRC delegation in the Philippines, said they have asked the military to allow them access to the 43 suspected rebels who claim to be community health workers.

Tauxe said the request is part of normal procedure being observed by their organization.

In a related development, the Philippine Army told its critics to refrain from throwing accusations against those who conducted the raid in Morong, which led to the arrest of the 43 suspects.

“The organization also calls on the families of the accused and their supporters to stop vilifying the military through publicity since the arrest is legitimate by virtue of a warrant of arrest,” it said in a statement.

Candidates up in arms

Meanwhile, the Nacionalista Party (NP), headed by its standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., has expressed deep concern about the plight of the arrested health workers.

The NP said the manner and circumstances of their arrest and detention already raised a lot of questions. Thus, the authorities should ensure that legal procedures will be followed.

“We hope there would be no repetition of the non-compliance of the military to the court’s orders. Appropriate sanctions must be meted out to the proper parties,” the NP said.

NP senatorial bet Gwen Pimentel scored the military over the unwarranted arrest.

“Considering further that the Morong 43 were holding a seminar inside a private resort, then clearly there is no basis for their warrantless arrest as no crime was being committed in the presence of the arresting officers,” she said.

Pimentel said that instead of being protectors of our Constitution, the military are the first to trample upon the suspect’s most basic right to liberty.

She said the shortcuts followed have no place under our bill of rights, which seeks to protect every citizen from the abuses of government.

Environmentalist Nicanor Perlas and Ang Kapatiran party standard-bearer JC de los Reyes also added their voice to the growing number of politicians who are calling on the government to make accountable those involved in the arrest of the health workers.

Perlas said the military’s ignorance of the Supreme Court’s order for the writ of habeas corpus is an act that deserves the highest condemnation. –Katherine Adraneda, Christina Mendez