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Palace dares ‘Morong 43’ camp to question arrest warrant before court


A Malacanang official on Monday challenged the lawyers of the so-called Morong 43 to question before the courts the warrant of arrest issued against their clients if they believe that the warrant was defective. "The question we posed to the Morong 43 during our second meeting [was] why is it that their lawyers have not filed anything to quash the search warrant which was issued in Cavite? Because that will trigger whether or not the government will oppose the motion," said senior deputy executive secretary Jose Amor Amorado in an interview with reporters. Morong 43 refers to the 43 health workers arrested in Morong, Rizal, last February on suspicion that they are members of the communist New People’s Army (NPA). They are currently on hunger strike to press the government to release them. Amorado said if the Morong 43’s camp feels that the warrant was defective, their first move should have been to ask the court to quash it. "Any evidence that were gathered by virtue of a void warrant is the fruit of the poisonous tree and cannot be used in court," he said. President Benigno Aquino III had earlier said the warrant used to arrest the 43 seems to be invalid, but he said Malacanang is leaving the health workers' fate to the courts. "The President is correct that in the ultimate analysis it is the courts who will decide because even if the Department of Justice, the prosecutor, will file a motion to withdraw the information or dismiss the case, the court will still have to approve the motion. So ultimately, it is the court which will decide finally on the case," Amorado said. When asked by reporters what he thinks of the hunger strike, Amorado answered: "Well, it’s Christmas, I hope they will stop it...I don’t know even where the hunger strike is directed to." The health workers are facing charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Five of them have been placed under separate military custody at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, after they allegedly admitted they were NPA supporters, while the remaining 38 are at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig. In a statement, the health workers maintained that they were arrested based on a defective warrant. "We were tortured physically and psychologically, deprived of sleep, subjected to various indignities, threatened with harm, denied legal counsel for several days and illegally detained until now. Planted evidence was used and false charges were filed against us. Our human rights continue to be violated. Every day in jail is an injustice to us," they said. Relatives of the Morong 43 picketed the Department of Justice (DOJ) office in Manila on Monday to ask for the immediate release of their loved ones. The left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said it is not enough for the Palace to simply insist that the case is up to the courts. “It’s been 10 months, two DOJ memoranda, two babies born in detention and countless appeals from the day the Morong 43 were illegally arrested, tortured, denied counsel and detained," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said in an article posted on the Bayan website. "It’s not enough that the Aquino government to say that the case is up to the courts. What the people want to know and what the detainees want to know, is what exactly will Malacanang do to rectify the situation?" Reyes asked. - KBK, GMANews.TV

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