By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – Health workers who sued former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for human rights violations are dismayed at what they described as the slow pace of the local court handling the case. Six of the Morong 43, or the 43 health workers arrested on February 6, 2010 and detained for ten [...]

By RONALYN V. OLEA
At least five causes of action are being sought by the health workers against the former president and her officials involved in the case.

By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Remember Jovito Palparan Jr., the notorious Philippine Army officer tagged by militant political activists as “The Butcher”? In 2007 the Melo Commission recommended Palparan’s investigation for extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations. Instead, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo personally presented him as a [...]

Press Release: 14 April, 2011 Pursuing their campaign to defend Cordillera health workers as part of their continuing assertion of the people’s right to health, CHESTCORE in partnership with the UP Student Council and UP Kasarian Gender Studies Program held a forum entitled “Stop the Harassment of Cordillera Health Workers!” last April 14, 2011 at [...]

By RONALYN V. OLEA
“We have decided to file for moral and exemplary damages against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her security officials for violation of our rights. This is but a small step to end impunity in our country. Yet, this a step forward in our long march for justice,” Gary Liberal, spokesman of the Morong 43, said.

By LYN V. RAMO
Why, they asked, are they being made to suffer human rights violations, when they have only been working for the indigenous farmers, laborers, small-scale miners and urban poor and, in the process, traveling long hours to reach far-flung villages, some of which could only be reached on foot?

By RONALYN V. OLEA
“My happiness is not complete because two of the Morong 43 are still in jail and hundreds more political detainees are still suffering,” Edwin Dematera told Bulatlat shortly after he was released.

By RONALYN V. OLEA
“Why do they keep on insisting that my husband Edwin is the Edwin Bustamante in the charge sheets? My husband is not a criminal,” Lyn Dematera said, in reaction to the continuing detention of her husband, one of the Morong 43.

Dr. Alexis Montes was wiping away his tears throughout the program on Feb. 3 organized by church workers who were involved in the campaign for the release of the Morong 43. It was evidently an emotional moment for him, less than two months after he and 32 others were released after 10 months in detention.

From the time of the raid and their subsequent arrest to the nightly interrogations, they were told that they did not have rights. But the “Morong 43″ struggled on internally and against their captors, interrogators, and eventually their prison custodians.

By MARYA SALAMAT
A year ago today, the military and police illegally arrested and detained the “Morong 43″ health workers. While most of them have been freed and are now trying to pick up the pieces of their lives, many still have nightmares and still feel vulnerable and exposed to danger.

Sidebar: ‘Morong 43′ Recall the Nightmare and the Struggle | Dr. Alexis Montes: ‘The Journey Is Not Yet Ended’ | Related Stories: Lawyers Push for Immediate Release of One of Three Remaining ‘Morong 43′ Detainees | What Newsbreak Failed to Report About the ‘Morong 5′ | More ‘Morong 43′ stories, photos and video