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Philippines will not release health workers

 
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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.
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.
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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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