In an open letter to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, more than 100 signatories, including three former Health secretaries, called for the immediate release of the "Morong 43" or the 43 health workers arrested on suspicion of being communists. The letter, published in a major daily broadsheet on Monday, asked the government to release the 43 health workers arrested in Morong, Rizal in February on suspicion of being members of the communist New People's Army. Esperanza Cabral, Jaime Galvez-Tan, and Alberto Romualdez all signed the letter, published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), which called for “an end to the persecution" of the detained health workers. Cabral served as head of the Department of Health under former President Gloria Arroyo. Galvez-Tan and Romualdez were DOH secretaries during the Ramos and Estrada administrations, respectively. “Justice will not be compromised if the health workers are released while the judicial process continues. They should be allowed to go back to their lives and families while their case is heard and likely disposed of," said Cabral. The “Morong 43" — comprised of two doctors, a nurse, two midwifes, and 38 community health workers — were merely “undergoing a First Responders’ Health training when they were arrested by the military through the use of a defective search warrant," according to the open letter. The rest of the signatories of the letter include:
other former officials of the DOH; professors and deans of various medical schools, including those in the University of the Philippines-Manila and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila; nurses and doctors of various hospitals, including the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and St. Luke’s Medical Center, and leaders of health organizations and unions, including the Philippine Nurses’ Association and the Health Alliance for Democracy, among others. The publication of the letter as an advertisement in the PDI was funded by the Free the 43 Health Workers Alliance, comprised mainly of relatives of the detainees, health organizations, and medical professionals who support the group. “The ‘Morong 43’ are dedicated health volunteers who were always at the forefront of community-based health care. They provided much-needed health services in barangays where government services were noticeably lacking," stated the letter. It added, “The arrest of the 43 puts to risks health professionals and volunteer community health workers who serve the poor especially in far-flung areas of the country. For health professionals who may be considering the option of public service in the countryside, the incident is terrifying." Cabral also cited the lack of medical practitioners in regions throughout the country, adding that the continued detention of the ‘Morong 43’ serves as a deterrent for health workers to serve in far-flung areas. “Kulang na kulang na nga ng doctors, nurses, sa rural areas. Ngayon matatakot pa ang mga health workers na pumunta, at baka matulad sila sa Morong 43, mapagbintangan at mahuli," she said. (We lack doctors and nurses in rural areas. Now health workers might be afraid to go there as they might suffer the same fate as the Morong 43 and be accused and arrested.) The open letter to Aquino was released on the same day that a member of the Morong 43, 27-year old Ma. Mercedes Castro, gave birth to a baby girl at the PGH, making her the second among the health workers to give birth in detention. Judilyn Oliveros, another member of the group, also gave birth at the PGH last July 22 to a baby boy. The ‘Morong 43’ are now in their eighth month of detention. “President Aquino, it is very simple: Direct the [Department of Justice] to file a motion withdrawing the criminal charges against the Morong 43 before the Morong [Regional Trial Court] Branch 78 and Morong [Municipal Trial Court]. Then the said courts can order the immediate release of the Morong 43," said Julius Matibag, legal counsel of the detained health workers. However, Aquino said last week that he will leave the case to the courts , in effect rejecting appeals for him to grant freedom to the detained health workers, as he recently did to some 300 soldiers facing charges of mutiny and other rebellious acts. The open letter in the PDI is the latest in a series of calls urging the Aquino administration to “free the 43." Over the weekend, the US-based International Association of Democratic Lawyers also wrote to Aquino, urging him to free the health workers. A group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, meanwhile, filed a resolution on Friday calling for the “immediate and unconditional release" of political prisoners in the country, including the Morong 43. – VVP, GMANews.TV 
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