Religious groups abroad voice concern over Morong 43

Thursday, 18 February 2010 12:29 PM Fidelis Angela Tan

The case of 43 health workers being detained by the Armed Forces of the Philippines under suspicion they are communist rebels has caught the attention of Christian groups abroad.

“The issue is already of international concern. We received an e-mail today from our General Board of Church and Society and they are expressing concern,” said United States-based Methodist Reverend Sandra Richards, who visited the detainees at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal on Tuesday.

Richards added that the World Council of Churches (WCC), a global fellowship of 349 Christian churches based in Geneva, Switzerland, has also issued a statement demanding the release of the ‘Morong 43’. WCC general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit said in the statement addressed to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that he was “dismayed” that the health workers were arrested “while they were involved in legitimate activities of humanitarian services as part of their Christian witness."

World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) general secretary Reverand Michael Wallace, also based in Geneva, also protested the arrests, condemning the "intimidation tactics to frighten and weaken those who struggle for human rights and to alleviate the sufferings of the marginalized."

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States also wrote to President Arroyo, saying, “We urge you to ensure the safety of those who are being held in this incident. We ask that full disclosure be made of the charges on which they are being held. If the evidence for these charges is not forthcoming and compelling, then they should be released immediately.”

Others calling for the release of the 43 detainees include chapters of the migrants’ rights group Migrante International in Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and the Middle East, and various organizations and individuals from New Zealand and Belgium.

The 43 health workers were arrested by the military in Morong, Rizal last week under suspicion of being members of the New People’s Army. Allegations of psychological, physical and sexual abuse by members of the military against the detainees have surfaced, but have been denied by the AFP.

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