Malacañang: No timetable for Morong 43’s release

Malacañang has remained mum on giving a timetable for the release of 43 health workers arrested last February in Morong town in Rizal province on suspicion they were communist rebels. Amid criticisms over president Aquino’s “ironic" call to free Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte could only say that those seeking the release of the “Morong 43" should just wait and let the government’s procedures run their course. “Hintayin natin ang magiging development doon (Let’s just wait for developments to run their course)," Valte said on government-run dzRB radio. She noted Justice Secretary Leila de Lima already made her recommendations on the matter. Militant umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) reminded Aquino that the Morong 43 and hundreds of political prisoners have remained in jails. “It’s really ironic. While it is good that the Philippine government made a call for the release of Ang San Suu Kyi, we can’t help but ask about the Morong 43. One cannot help but notice the slow pace in the release of the Philippines’ own political prisoners," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said in an article posted on the Bayan website. Bayan reminded Aquino of the more than 300 political prisoners – most of them had been arrested during the Arroyo administration. “It is time the Philippine president back up his human rights pronouncements with concrete action," Reyes said. The group said the case of the Morong 43 has drawn international attention because of the blatant disregard for their constitutional rights as well as allegations of torture. Aquino joined the international community in calling for the immediate release of Suu Kyi, during a bilateral meeting with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein at the sidelines of the 17th ASEAN Summit in Vietnam. “The Aquino government should also fix the human rights problems in its own backyard. This includes solving hundreds of cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, releasing more than 300 political prisoners, and prosecuting the architects of human rights violations from the previous government," Reyes said. “The Philippines own human rights track record is not exactly the most outstanding in the ASEAN," he added. — LBG, GMANews.TV