'AFP ready for any probe on Morong 43'

FORT DEL PILAR -- The military has evidence that the 43 health workers arrested during a raid on a rest house in Morong, Rizal last Feb. 6 are communist guerrillas, a spokesman said.

“We are ready for any inquiry,” said Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner II. “We have evidence and ready witnesses (against them).”

But Brawner told reporters at the sidelines of the PMA alumni homecoming here over the weekend that the military cannot present the evidence to the Senate, but “only in formal court proceedings.”

For his part, Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado said supporters of the “Morong 43” can file cases if they want to.

“For now, we believe that they cannot prove allegations that the suspects were tortured. They were not tortured and they were handled well,” he said.

Brawner said the military believes it has a “solid case” against the suspects, citing arrest warrants, among other evidence, for murder, multiple murder, and other criminal charges against all of the “Morong 43,” besides several witnesses tagging them in ambuscades, killings of policemen and soldiers, and other crimes.

The military had long been monitoring those arrested, a number of them “for as long as six years,” Brawner said, adding that others in the group had been arrested before.

Families and lawyers of the “Morong 43” are poised to file cases against the military before the Commission on Human Rights tomorrow.

In a forum, Dr. Genevieve Rivera, Health Alliance for Democracy deputy secretary-general, said they are filing cases of illegal arrest, illegal detention and torture against the soldiers and military officials behind the arrest and would press for the “unconditional and immediate release“of the 43 health workers.

The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, together with Senators Pia Cayetano and Jamby Madrigal and party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, assailed the handing out of awards to two military officers involved in the arrest.