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Int’l campaign says ‘Free the Morong 43’

An international campaign is demanding the release of 43 health care workers illegally arrested by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as they provided medical care for poor people in Morong, Rizal. Known as the Morong 43, they are being detained at Camp Capinpin, an army headquarters.

The doctors, midwives, nurses and other health care workers were participating in a First Responders Training sponsored by the Community Medicine Foundation and Council for Health and Development.

On Feb. 6, 300 soldiers and police broke their way into a doctor’s farmhouse, then lined up the health workers, frisked, blindfolded and abducted them to the army camp. There, they have been interrogated, harassed, and physically and psychologically tortured.

Twenty-six of the detainees are women.

There is widespread support for them, including from all sectors of the Philippine healthcare community, including Filipino health workers abroad. Protests are being sent to the Philippine government from as far as New Zealand, South Korea and Canada.

In the U.S., the AFL-CIO and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance have sent letters to Philippine officials, calling for the prisoners’ immediate release.

The World Council of Churches and United Church of Canada have called for their release. A delegation from the United Methodist Church (UMC) California-Pacific conference recently visited the detainees at Camp Capinpin and supported their families.

Demonstrations of Filipinos and their supporters have taken place at Philippine consular offices in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

On Feb. 23 a delegation of community and religious leaders and human rights advocates went to Sen. Barbara Boxer’s office in Los Angeles to seek action on behalf of the Morong 43. They delivered petitions signed by more than 500 individuals and organizations.

Present was Melissa Roxas, who was illegally arrested at gunpoint last spring by the Philippine military, then interrogated and tortured for six days.

Roxas, who had been a volunteer health worker, explained, “All the 43 health workers did was to serve the poor and the most vulnerable in society and they filled a great need that the Philippine government was not able to provide.

“I know what it feels like to be detained and tortured. No human being should have to go through that. The situation is critical. Every day that [they] are not released, it is one more day they have to endure of pain, fear and torture. We demand [their] immediate release. We need to help stop human rights’ violations in the Philippines.” (BAYAN-USA press statement, Feb. 24)

The California activists called upon the U.S. government to take action. Rev. Sandra Richards, who was in the recent UMC delegation to the Philippines, said, “The United States is widely seen as a partner in the Philippine military, and is a funder.”

International League of People’s Struggle activist Chito Quijano called for withholding U.S. tax dollars from the Philippines while the detainees are held in a “Guantanamo-like prison.”

Progressive forces in the Philippines have denounced the government’s martial law tactics against these workers and others, whom they label as insurgents to justify the military’s brutality.

Only after public pressure mounted, and detainees’ families submitted a writ of habeas corpus to the Philippine Supreme Court, did the army bring the 43 prisoners to the Court of Appeals in Manila on Feb. 15. They were then returned to Camp Capinpin after brief testimony.

Although a court ruling was due Feb. 24 on the legality of the arrests, not a word has been issued.

On March 1, the International Association of People’s Lawyers called on Philippine President Gloria Magapagal-Arroyo to immediately free the Morong 43.

For information on how to join in solidarity actions and protest statements, see BAYANUSA.org and freethehealthworkers.blogspot.com. Sign the petition at petitiononline.com/Free43/.