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A UMNS Report
By Elliott Wright*
12:00 P.M. EST March 11, 2010
Protesters ask for the release of Dr. Alexis Montes and 42 other medical
caregivers arrested in the Philippines. UMNS photo by Juliet
Solis-Aguilar, GBGM.
View in Photo Gallery
A court in the Philippines refused to release 43 health workers
seized on Feb. 6 on charges of being communist insurgents.
On March 10, a five-member panel of the Court of Appeals in a 3-2
ruling dismissed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus covering the
group being held in prison. The decision is being appealed to the
Philippines Supreme Court.
Among those held is Dr. Alexis Montes, whose work in community-based
health received small grants from the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries from 2007 to 2009, under an arrangement with the United
Church of Christ in the Philippines.
The February arrests took place in the town of Morong in Rizal
Province, while the 43 were attending a training seminar at the home of
another physician. Police and military units raided the home and held
the group as alleged accomplices of a communist organization.
There is considerable confusion around the details of the Feb. 6
incident. Some reports indicate that the police and military did not
have a warrant for the property raided, but for another location in the
area.
Arrests protested
The arrests and prolonged detention have been protested
internationally by religious and medical organizations. Among those
calling for release and humane treatment are the United Church of
Christ in the Philippines, the World Council of Churches, the National
Council of Churches USA and the Board of Global Ministries.
Dr. Alexis Montes
On Feb. 11, Bishop Joel N. Martinez, the chief executive of Global
Ministries, said the incident “appears to be a continuation of a
military and government campaign against persons who seek to provide
services to and represent the interests of the poor."
A hearing on the legality of the arrests was held in mid-February
with the Court of Appeals indicating it would rule within days.
However, an initial three-member panel of judges could not reach a
decision and two judges were added to the court.
The denial was justified on the argument that the petition for habeas
corpus was null, since it was filed after the 43 persons had been
charged in a lower court on Feb. 12. Lawyers for the defendants
maintain the law used to justify the action is itself unconstitutional,
dating from the period of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Families and advocates for those collectively called the "Morong 43"
have alleged that some of the detainees have been tortured and abused.
A petition that the detainees be moved from Camp Capinpin to another
facility was left to local authorities.
Lawyers for those arrested had sought redress for the clients in the
Court of Appeals on the grounds of denial of due process, according to a
March 10 summary document on the case distributed by the Justice,
Peace, and Human Rights Program of the United Church of Christ in the
Philippines.
Because of historic mission patterns, the Board of Global Ministries
works with both The United Methodist Church in the Philippines and the
United Church of Christ in the Philippines, a denomination that
included the Evangelical United Brethren Church, a constituting part of
The United Methodist Church.
*Wright is an author and consultant to the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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