A welcome in disguise for Bangit: CA’s pro-military decision on 43 health workers

Militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno slammed the Court of Appeals’ decision junking the petition for habeas corpus by the illegally arrested and detained 43 health workers, calling it a “welcome in disguise” to new Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Delfin Bangit, who was appointed to his post two days before the court decision came out.

By denying the petition for habeas corpus on the basis that the filing of trumped-up charges against 43 health workers has made their arrests “legal,” the appellate court has justified the human rights violations committed by the military during arrest and detention of the health workers, as well as all other illegal arrests by the AFP. It has moved closer to exonerating the AFP from rights abuses and criminal liability – an added prize for new AFP chief Bangit, whose loyalty to butcher Gloria Arroyo rises above anything else.

We abhor the timing of the decision, which came out also after militant groups challenged Bangit to order the release of the 43 health workers upon assuming his new post. Such order of events makes us suspect that Arroyo has once again pulled some strings to unveil a welcome gift to her well-pampered general. 

But more than anything else, the CA decision has made the armed forces more of a monster which can rob the people’s liberty anytime. It is another road block to the Filipino workers’ and peoples’ demand to end the climate of impunity, as perpetrators of illegal arrests can run away scot-free by simply filing charges against victims. In the eyes of all the victims of political repression and human rights violations, the decision is certainly another black mark to the Arroyo regime. #