On 10 December 2010, International Human Rights Day, President Benigno Aquino III, ordered the Department of Justice to withdraw the case filed against "Morong 43", the health workers arrested on fabricated charges. As a result, most of the health workers were released while 3 detainees are still in custody to date.

"The medical workers were arrested in the waning days of the Arroyo administration on the suspicion that they were aiding New People¡¦s Army (NPA) insurgents. These are valid concerns. Nevertheless, we recognize that their right to due process was denied them," said Aquino.

While the release of the Morong 43 ostensibly showed fairness of the country¡¦s justice system, it could not be accepted as a respect to human rights in the country. Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) stated that the court could have dismissed the charges based on the inadequate evidence; moreover, the case had been challenged before the Court of Appeal, which also could have initiated judicial review on a flawed decision that allowed trial of cases without any regard to questions of legality and due process.

According to the Philippine-based human rights alliance, Karapatan, the number of victims of extrajudicial killings for the first four months of the Aquino administration (i.e. May to August) was even higher than the recorded killings during the last six months of the Arroyo government.

The Morong 43 has been imprisoned and tortured since February 2010. Their families and local human rights groups have been inviting international pressure to protect the arrested from further torture. ACPP issued SUA100211(1) in February 2010 to request the authorities to release the health workers immediately.

Sources: Karapatan, Sunday Examiner, freethehealthworkers.blogspot.com and local source

The families of "Morong 43", the 43 community health workers being accused of storing ammunition and being members of New People's Army (the rebellious group), had petitioned for the habeas corpus on 9 February 2010 after the 43 were arbitrarily arrested by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on 6 February 2010.

Habeas corpus is a legal instrument which ensures that once the writ of habeas corpus is issued, the party holding the imprisonment (the AFP in this case) must bring the prisoners to the court and justify the detention and the court must inquire into every step of process of detention, from the initial moment that the prisoners was arrested. On 11 February 2010, the AFP was ordered by the Supreme Court to escort the Morong 43 to the hearing of the petition of habeas corpus the next day. However, the military rejected to do so and hastily charged the Morong 43 on 11 February. Three of the arrested were charged with illegal possession of firearms while the others were charged with possession of explosives which is not bailable. However, no concrete evidence has been presented so far.

The petition of habeas corpus was finally denied by the Court of Appeal in an exceptional way on 10 March 2010. Originally, two Justices in the three-member panel responsible for the ruling of the petition have voted for the petition of habeas corpus. However, on the same day, the decision was overturned and two extra judges were assigned to the panel. With the additional votes of the newly-joined judges, the petition was dismissed by the majority of the panel. The judges who vetoed the petition of habeas corpus based it on the Ilagan vs. Enrile law, an obsolete law used to illegally detain thousands of political dissidents during the martial law period.

The Morong 43 has been taken into Camp Capinpin and were denied visitation until the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and lawyers intervened rigorously but the military still strictly constrained the visitation and refused to transfer the detainees to regular detention facilities. Normally, detainees should be kept in regular detention facility when they are waiting for the court decision on their case. It is also reported that 3 of the Morong 43, Ellenor Carandang, Cherrielyn Tawagon and Valentin Paulino, have been secretly transferred to another detention facility. Their families were not informed of their whereabouts and the 3 detainees were not allowed to meet their lawyers since then.

It is learnt that the 3 detainees who have been secretly transferred, in addition of two detainees, Jenilyn Pizarro and John Mark Barrientos, being separated from the rest of Morong 43, admitted that they were members of NPA one after another. According to their relatives, the five detainees were subjected to interrogation and threats to their families' safety. It is reported that three of Carandang¡¦s children has been missing. On February 25, Adoracion, Paulino¡¦s mother, told the CHR, Leila de Lima, what her son had told her, "Mother, I am afraid for our family. They beat me repeatedly that is why I was forced to tell a lie. I did what the soldiers instructed me to do because they told me that they already deployed men to our place."

The CHR has conducted the first hearing in 18 March on the torture and human rights violation cases filed by the Morong 43 against the military and police. Once again, the military failed to bring the 43 detainees to the hearing. The next hearing will be held after the Lenten break.

The National Union of People's Lawyers, as part of the legal team in collaboration with the Public Interest Law Center that represents the Morong 43, has waited forty days for the military¡¦s explanation on the allegedly illegal detention and torture, but the military has remain silent on the matter.

The Morong 43, were arrested by 300 heavily armed men when they were taking part in a medical training in Morong, Rizal Province, East of Manila. They were subjected to torture in custody while some of them were held in solitary confinement. To call for release of the 43 health workers, ACPP issued SUA100211(1) on 11 February 2010.

Sources:
Bayan Press, Bulatlat.com, Manila Bulletin, BCC News