AFP bares NPA plot to rescue 43 detained health workers

New People’s Army (NPA) rebels to rescue the 43 arrested health workers accused of being rebel trainees, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Sunday. Military information chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the AFP had received information that the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines might spring the workers detained inside Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal. “We received have information…There is really a possibility that the New People’s Army will launch a rescue because those we arrested in Morong, Rizal are high value targets," Brawner told dzBB radio in Filipino. Brawner also cited security threats as the reason behind the AFP’s defiance of a Supreme Court order to present the workers — dubbed the “Morong 43" — at the Court of Appeals’ habeas corpus hearing last week. (See: AFP fails to produce 43 health workers in court) “There was a possibility of an ambush along the way. The workers could not be brought to the Court of Appeals because of that danger," Brawner said, assuring that the military would present the workers in court on Monday. The workers were arrested at a farmhouse in Morong, Rizal last February 6 on suspicion that they were being trained on how to make explosives and were NPA members and supporters. Relatives of the workers, non-government organizations and militant groups have said the arrested men and women were just attending a health training at the rest house of doctor Melecia Velmonte, chairman of the Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED) and an infectious disease specialist. But on Sunday, Brawner said some of those arrested had admitted being part of the communist group. “Some of these 43 workers have cooperated with us and admitted that they were part of the NPA and even pointed to their other companions," Brawner said. The military spokesman earlier said they have “complete records," supported by witnesses’ accounts, that the 43 were indeed NPA insurgents. He said some of them have pending arrest warrants for atrocities they had allegedly committed in the past. No torture, sexual abuse Brawner likewise belied reports that the workers had been tortured or sexually harassed while they were detained. He added that the Commission on Human rights, which found no signs of physical abuse among the workers, was closely cooperating with the AFP. (See: CHR team visits ‘Morong 43,’ sees no physical torture signs) On the other hand, CHR chief Leila de Lima said the commission had found that the workers had been subjected to mental torture through long hours of blindfolding and scare tactics, including threats to kill the detainees and their loved ones if they don’t cooperate. The CHR said the health workers' basic rights had been violated, including their right to a lawyer at the time of the arrest, during interrogations and inquest. — NPA/KBK, GMANews.TV