The ‘Morong 43’ prisoners were home for Christmas after being released from detention on Dec. 10 – International Hu­man Rights Day. The order for their re­lease came just days before they were scheduled to begin a protest fast after having been held without trial for almost one year.

The 43 health workers were arrested on trumped-up charges by Philippine military authorities on Feb. 6 while having a train­ing session in Morong, Rizal. Using the usual military ploy of calling them NPA’s, they were herded into a military camp and held there until President Aquino ordered their release on grounds that the army violated their rights – a fact consistently brought out by them and their supporters in the Philippines and abroad.

Their arrest and detention was so blatantly absurd – the military allegedly planted ‘evidence’ like grenades and land-mine bomb equipments, etc. that it defied reason or logic. But as usual, the military went on their rampage with im­punity believing that they are untouchable and cannot be questioned.

Those of us old enough to remember the Marcos era can recall how they (mili­tary) used to ‘plant’ evidence on suspected Communist sympathizers. One of these outmoded methods was used against a number of foreign missionaries in Negros who suddenly found themselves with gre­nades and rifles in their closets and was promptly accused and arrested.

Arrests and detentions are small po­tatoes compared to the impunity of the political killings perpetrated by the Phil­ippine military and their cohorts in their failed counter-insurgency plan under the equally corrupt President Gloria Arroyo called ‘Oplan Bantay Laya’.
I don’t know what these jerks think of the people. Under ‘Oplan’ they promised to defeat the Communists before the end of Arroyo’s term. Having fallen flat on their faces they have now recycled the plan and renamed it ‘Balikbayan’ and is again brag­ging the Communists will be defeated be­fore Aquino’s term finishes in 2014.
Nasupalpal at napapahiya ang mili­tar
Ang kakapal nang mukha ng mga mili­tary sa Pinas!
Instead of acknowledging their failure on the case of the ‘Morong 43’, they as­sured the President that they will follow his orders and that their morale was in­tact. Are they not supposed to, or are they above the law?
Were they embarrassed that what they have been claiming all these months were all a bunch of lies?
A brotherhood of ‘macho’ men

If there is a tightly knit fraternity of men there is none tighter than the military es­tablishment. Coup leader Gen. Trillanes was granted amnesty and walked out free to sit offi­cially as a Senator of the Republic to join his brothers, Honasan, Enrile and a host of cabals in the Senate and the House including the ‘berdugo’ Gen. Jovito Pal­paran.

Another plunderer – Maj. Gen. Carlos F. Garcia made a plea-bargain and escaped being meted the punishment commen­surate with this crime. Instead, Philippine prosecutors wiggled a deal whereby the disgraced General who stole Php303 mil­lion in army funds will only have to ‘return’ Php135.43 million.
As I wrote in a previous column, the Philippine military always calls the shots!

< Prev		Next >