UPM USC Statement

The UP Manila University Student Council Statement

on the Illegal Arrest, Detention, and Torture of 43 Health Workers in Morong

The University Student Council speaks in behalf of more than two thousand young students of medicine, nursing, public health, dentistry, pharmacy, and other allied health professions of the University of the Philippines Manila – the national health sciences center.

We strongly condemn the illegal arrest and detention and the inhumane acts of torture of the 43 health workers, which includes medical doctors, nurses, and community health workers (CHWs), undergoing a health training in Morong, Rizal almost two weeks ago. We students demand for the immediate release of the health workers who are, at present, still detained in Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, and still with limited access to their families and relatives and even to their lawyers.

We also denounce the harassment and intimidation, and the violation of domicile done by the military and the police to Dr. Melecia Velmonte and her household. Dr. Velmonte, professor emeritus of the UP College of Medicine and an eminent expert in infectious disease, is known to us, young students, as an inspiring community health advocate, educator, and researcher, who is more than willing to lend not just her training facility but also her knowledge and expertise to fellow health workers, and is not deserving of such lack of respect from the police and the military.

Moreover, we, students of health professions, also wish to convey our apprehension. Our professional education in UP taught us, not just to cure sickness and relieve pain, but also to reach out to fellowmen who need us the most – those who inhabit far-flung communities, those who were marginalized by geographic, cultural, and even sociopolitical barriers.

Despite this incident, the desire to serve the underserved remains in our hearts and minds. However, the recent tragedy also inculcated fear amongst us, as it revealed to us how perilous the world is for those who, with the purest of intentions, reach out to the disenfranchised. Today, a doctor that traverses mountains in the provinces can be easily accused of being an NPA or a rebel, and gatherings such as health trainings like the one held in Morong can be planted with guns and grenades and tagged as a bomb-making activity. Worse, health workers can now be arrested and abducted without due process, or can be gunned down, or can even be buried alive. This reality is unacceptable, and all sectors of Philippine society, with the government in the lead, must do something to reverse this trend immediately.

We, future health workers of this country, are willing to make the sacrifice, to fill the gaps, to make up for the essential things that our government was not able to provide our people – basic quality and affordable health care, opportunities for better and meaningful life, and a ready ear that listens to the needs of men, women, and children. But we too demand from our government that it create an environment that will enable us to help them provide the health rights of our people. We call on the government, most especially the military and the police, to stop all forms of harassment of health workers and of all Filipino professionals who genuinely love and serve our country at large, especially the countryside.

We also call the Arroyo government to take immediate action in making accountable the military and police forces behind this deplorable act of cruelty and unlawfulness. The illegal arrest, harassment, and detention, and the acts of torture done by the military as reported by the Commission on Human Rights are clear violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which the Philippines is a signatory. We remind the government, especially the military and the police, that it is its prime duty to enforce these rules and protect the welfare of citizens, and not to be the first to violate them.

We also call for greater accountability on the part of the military and police for their defiance of the Supreme Court’s issuance of a writ of habeas corpus last week. As already expressed in the newspapers and by legal experts, this act might set a “dangerous precedent on how habeas corpus orders would be dealt with in the future.” Thus, we demand that those responsible for this disobedience and insubordination be immediately dealt with accordingly.

Lastly, but most importantly, as young students of health professions and as advocates for greater health for all Filipinos, we express our deepest admiration for the 43 health workers, and for all the health professionals who choose to forego opportunities in the metropolis or even overseas in order to work and serve the rural areas, for their unwavering passion and commitment to serve their fellow Filipinos in times of sickness and pain. Where the government is not providing health care to the poor, they are there. Where service rendered is not properly compensated or even appreciated, there they continually serve. We know that neither blindfolding nor electrocution, not even death itself, can kill their indomitable spirit. And that spirit inspires us to continue our education with diligence and responsibility, so that we can use our acquired knowledge and skills to care for the sick, to love our country, and eventually to heal our wounded land.

Free the 43 NOW!