2 AFP officials get bronze cross for capture of 'Morong 43'

MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will award bronze cross medals today to two military officials who led a raid in Morong, Rizal early this month that resulted in the capture of 43 suspected communist rebels.

AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said the medals will be given to Col. Aurelio Baladad, commander of the Army 202nd Infantry Brigade, and Lt. Col. Jaime Abawag, commander of the Army 16th Infantry Battalion.

“The two (Baladad and Abawag) were the ones primarily involved in the raid in Morong, Rizal. The Solcom (Southern Luzon Command) will be giving the bronze cross medals to Col. Baladad and Lt. Col. Abawag for the successful operation, where they were able to arrest 43 members of the New People’s Army (NPA),” he said in a press briefing yesterday.

The bronze cross is awareded to uniformed and civilian personnel of the AFP, as well as armed forces of friendly foreign nations, for heroism. The heroic act should involve the risk of life under conditions other than those of actual conflict or combat with the enemy.

Brawner said critics of the military should not make a fuss over the awarding since the members of the so-called “Morong 43” have been identified as NPA members.

“There are no issues here. It is very definite that they (suspected rebels) are members of the (NPA) and we have to recognize this feat because we are serious in our mission of defeating the communist insurgency by June 2010,” he said.

“When we say defeating, it doesn’t mean necessarily wiping them out but bringing down to a level where they are insignificant, that they are not a national issue anymore,” he added.

Brawner said the other enlisted personnel who are part of the raiding team may be given military merit medals.

“This is not a tactical victory of the armed for-ces but more of a strategic (victory) for the whole country because we were able to neutralize some of their (insurgents) members,” he said.

Meanwhile, members of the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) said in a statement that the AFP and the Philippine National Police “remain the top human rights violators in the country.”

HEAD said “anyone can be subjected to the worst forms of abuse and humiliation simply by being accused, through lies and fabricated evidence, as a New People’s Army member.”

Members of the “Morong 43” were arrested last Feb. 6 by the PNP and the Philippine Army, which claimed that they were insurgents attending a seminar on making explosives. Recovered during the raid were various firearms and substances used to create bombs.

The suspects, however, denied this and said they are legitimate rural health workers who serve poor communities.