NPA attacks foiled with arrest of ‘Morong 43’ - AFP

The military on Tuesday claimed to have foiled an attack by communist rebels with the Feb. 6 arrest of 43 health workers suspected to be members and supporters of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Morong, Rizal. Citing information reaching them, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Marcelo Burgos Jr. said the attacks would be carried out on the NPA’s founding anniversary on March 29. He also said the group was planning to disrupt the May 10 elections. “Because of this decisive tactical victory, the government forces were able to prevent a possible major attack to be perpetrated by the NPA bandits during its anniversary this March 29," Burgos said in a statement. He said the arrest of the 43 health workers – dubbed as the Morong 43 - was “a product of a thorough and deliberate planning, extensive intelligence work and accurate surveillance." Burgos said those arrested were part “a super body of NPA medics and combatants from various provinces." Relatives and non-government organizations associated with the health workers have repeatedly denied that the arrested men and women were communist rebels, saying that they were community health workers conducting health skills training in the area. Burgos, however, claimed that there is a strong indication that the activities of the 43 accused are not limited to health trainings. “The presence of weapons and explosive devices, including landmine, readily translates into espousing violence. The evidence of landmine alone is in direct contravention to the [United Nation’s] declaration against the use of landmines and the Ottawa Convention of 1997," he said. Burgos also denied Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Leila de Lima’s claim that the 43 were subjected to “mental torture" while in detention in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal. He said the arrested health workers were informed of the reason of the arrest and were given adequate food, water and cot beds. “Safeguarding human rights is always at the core of every military operation. It is deeply entrenched in the institution’s programs, policies, and regulations. It is the very principle that Army soldiers try to live everyday," the Army official said. On Monday, the military as well as the police were forced to present the 43 before the Court of Appeals after the Supreme Court issued a writ of habeas corpus ordering them to do so. - KBK, GMANews.TV