AFP fails to produce 43 health workers in court

None of the 43 health workers arrested and detained by the Armed Forces as rebels of the New People’s Army was presented before the Court of Appeals (CA) on Friday, after the military said it could not sufficiently secure the venue of the hearing. A radio dzBB report quoted Col. Aurelio Baladad, commander of the 202nd Brigade based at Camp Capinpin where the health workers are detained, as telling the appellate court that the Army did not have enough time to coordinate with the Philippine National Police (PNP) to work out the security plan for bringing the detainees to the court hearing. The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a writ of habeas corpus that ordered the AFP and the PNP to physically present the health workers before the court within 24 hours and justify why they should remain in detention. The AFP earned the ire of Associate Justice Normandie Pizarro due to its failure to present the arrested individuals before the CA. Justice Pizarro told Col. Baladad that the very purpose of a writ of habeas corpus was to produce anyone at the soonest possible time as a matter of a citizen's constitutional rights. Besides, the appellate justice added, it should not have been difficult for the Army to bring 43 people to court when it could instantly deploy an entire battalion to the field to arrest them. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), who represented the AFP, said the writ should no longer have any effect since criminal charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives have been filed before the Rizal regional trial court on Thursday, with no bail recommended. Pizarro, a member of the CA First Division, set another deadline for the military and required it to bring to court the health workers on Monday, February 15. Lawyer Romeo Capulong, representing the health workers, expressed dismay over the AFP's failure to take his clients out of detention, saying it should have heeded the Supreme Court's order. Meanwhile, a group of protesters massed outside the Court of Appeals building in Manila to express their support for the detained individuals, whom they labeled as "The Morong 43," and to call for their immediate release. Both the PNP and the AFP had earlier made assurances that they were prepared to present the 43 people anytime. (See: AFP: Case tight vs 43 arrested health workers) "The Army's 2nd ID (Infantry Division) said they are now ready... they are ready to present the 43 anytime if they are called by the court," said Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, chief of the military’s public affairs office, in a phone interview. The military remained confident it would be able to prove that the arrested individuals were members of the NPA. Brawner maintained that the Army has “complete records," supported by witnesses accounts, that the 43 are indeed NPA rebels. He said some of them have pending arrest warrants for “atrocities" they have allegedly committed in the past. "They were caught... while conducting that training, caught in the act of having training on bomb-making." The 43 were arrested by a combined Army and police team in Morong town last Saturday. Allegedly seized from them were two handguns, three grenades, improvised explosives, bomb components, cash amounting to more than P300,000 and personal belongings, among others. (See: AFP: 43 nabbed in doc’s home are ‘rebel trainees’) They are currently detained at Camp Capinpin, home of the Army’s 2nd ID, in Tanay, Rizal.—Mark Merueñas/JV, GMANews.TV