De Lima to submit proposal to Aquino on 'Morong 43' issue

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she will submit a proposal to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III a proposal on the case of the "Morong 43," the 43 health workers who were arrested in February suspicion that they were communist rebels. De Lima, however, declined to divulge the contents of the memorandum that she intends to submit to Aquino within the day (Friday). "We are continuing to find means to address this matter, to address the plea of their relatives for their release. But everything should be within the bounds of law and the legal processes and hopefully, there will be a closure to this issue," De Lima told reporters. On February 6, the health workers were arrested in Morong, Rizal on suspicion of being New People’s Army trainees. They were subsequently charged before Rizal courts with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. De Lima's officce, the Department of Justice, supervises the state prosecutors in the cases against the health workers. De Lima had earlier submitted to Aquino her review of the health workers' cases but the President had refused to disclose the contents of De Lima's recommendations. Instead, Aquino said the fate of the health workers depend on the courts. Earlier in the day, the health workers announced they will hold a hunger strike to protest their detention and to prod Aquino into ordering the DOJ to withdraw the case against them. Renato Reyes, whose group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) is sympathetic to the workers, said the hunger strike will continue for "an indefinite period." Except for five persons from the Morong 43 who were transferred to Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, the rest of the workers are detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig. The other two workers—Mercy Castro and Judilyn Oliveros—have been confined at the Philippine General Hospital after giving birth while in detention. – VVP, GMANews.TV