Govt integration program awaits 5 ‘Morong 43’ members

Five members of the so-called Morong 43 who admitted that they were communist rebels will undergo a social integration course to help them start a new life after leaving the armed insurgency. The course will also teach Ellen Carandang, Cheryllyn Taoagon, Valentino Paulino, Jennyllyn Pizzaro, and John Mark Barrientos how to protect themselves from adversaries, according to military spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta. “They will be enrolled to the [Social Integration Program], and one of the areas of the program is all about security and how to defend one’s self," Mabanta told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. The five had earlier said they are worried about possible retaliation from the New People’s Army (NPA) after they turned their backs on the rebel organization. The five were among the 43 health workers arrested last February in Morong, Rizal, for allegedly being part of the communist movement. Most of them were recently released after the court dropped the charges against them. Mabanta said the five are “more than welcome" to join the military if they want. “But of course, they will have to pass the requirements on height, educational backgrounds and the likes. They also have to pass the basic entrance examination," he said. Apart from security training, participants of the government integration program would also be taught livelihood projects, Mabanta said. Formed during the administration of former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the SIP also gives cash incentives to rebel returnees, which they could use to start up small businesses. The SIP is a program under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process. Admission Carandang, Taoagan, and Paulino were the first batch of health workers to admit being NPA members. The three originally signed a petition prepared by their lawyer Romeo Capulong detailing supposed abuses committed against them to make them admit being rebels. But in March, the military said the three — while in detention at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal — had changed their minds, requested for a new counsel, and executed new affidavits. With their admission, the three were placed in another detention cell. Two weeks after their transfer, two more health workers — Pizzaro and Barrientos — likewise admitted being communist rebels. They too were accordingly separated from the rest and made to join the three. The military said Barrientos and Pizzaro both executed counter-affidavits taking back their torture allegations and admitting to being NPA members. Militant groups like Karapatan doubted if the five really admitted to being rebels. The group’s deputy secretary general, Roneo Clamor, said separating them from the other 38 detainees was part of the military’s “divide and conquer" tactic to force the health workers into admission. From Camp Capinpin, the 38 health workers who stood firm on their claim that they were merely health workers undergoing health training in Morong were later transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. The five members who admitted being rebels remain with the military at Camp Capinpin to this day. The 38 workers detained at Camp Bagong Diwa were ordered released two weeks ago by a Morong Regional Trial Court. The release order came after the Justice department, upon orders from President Benigno Aquino III, dropped charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosive devices. But as of this posting, only 33 of the 38 health workers from Camp Bagong Diwa have been freed, since the remaining five are facing other criminal charges like rape, murder, drug dependency, and violation of the anti-bouncing check law. - KBK, GMANews.TV