DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 22, 2013) – One of 43 health workers who were captured and accused by the Philippine military as communist rebels, had been killed in a clash with security forces in Bulacan province in Luzon Island.
The 10th Infantry Division in Davao City said Ramon dela Cruz was slain along with two other gunmen while fighting on the side of the New People’s Army rebels in the village of Kabayunan in Dona Remedios Trinidad town.
It said the 43-year old Dela Cruz was among those captured in February 6, 2010 in Morong town in Rizal province. His parents have confirmed the identity of the slain rebel.
Called the “Morong 43,” the military said members of the group were captured by soldiers while manufacturing improvised explosives. The Morong 43 denied the accusations and said they were only conducting health training and seminar in the village when security forces arrested them.
President Benigno Aquino ordered the release of the Morong 43 after rebels demanded the government to free the health workers before it can resume stalled peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Many soldiers and military officers opposed the release of the Morong 43. Following the release of the Morong 43, communist rebels abandoned the peace talks.
In December 2010, photos of the Morong 43 have surfaced on the Internet. The pictures posted by a military official who uses the alias “Peace Builder” on the social networking site Facebook showed some of them conducting first aid training with NPA rebels.
Along with the photos was a statement saying that five of the Morong 43 admitted to be members of the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which is waging a bloody secessionist war for decades now.
It also linked Filipino-American Melissa Roxas who was allegedly abducted and tortured by government soldiers into admitting she is a communist rebel. Roxas, who denied all accusations against her, was eventually freed. The military denied abducting her and security officials accused the NPA as behind the abduction.
Peace talks collapsed in 2004 after rebels accused then President Gloria Arroyo of reneging on several agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners in the country, and Aquino tried to revive the negotiations, but failed. (Mindanao Examiner)
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