The military failed on Friday to present before the Court of Appeals the 43 health workers arrested in Morong, Rizal as ordered by the Supreme Court. Instead, only the commander of the Army’s 202nd Brigade came to attend the hearing.

Lt. Col. Noel Detoyato, civil military operations (CMO) officer of the 2nd Infantry Division, said they only sent Col. Aurelion Baladad, 202nd Brigade commander, to appear before the Court on instructions of the Armed Forces’ judge advocate.

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a writ of habeas corpus directing the military and the police to present the 43 health workers before the court.

The respondents included Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, 2nd Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Jorge Segovia and Baladad.

Detoyato said they are willing to comply with the order but said they were advised to send only the 202nd Brigade commander to appear in court for Friday’s hearing. He said the advice came from the AFP’s judge advocate.

He stressed, however, that they are prepared to transport the 43 health workers and present them before the court should they be advised to do so.

Earlier in the day, AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Jr. said the AFP was ready to present the health workers before the court, adding they have a strong case against them.

Brawner also said the issuance of the writ of habeas corpus does not mean that the arrest made on the health workers was illegal.

He said the High Tribunal’s order only instructs the AFP and the PNP to present the suspects before the court, which they will follow after which the 43 will be brought back to the detention facility in Rizal.

“So the writ of habeas corpus does not absolve them of any crime. We have already filed a case against them and only three of the 43 suspects may be allowed to post bail. The three are those who were charged with illegal possession of firearms, while the remaining 40 face the non-bailable offense of illegal possession of explosives,” said Brawner.

He also maintained that the military has a strong case against the suspects, whom he insisted were members of the Communist movement.

“It’s proven that they are indeed members of the NPA. We have complete records aside from witnesses’ accounts. Then there are also pending warrants of arrest against some of them for their previous atrocities,” Brawner said.

He went on to say that they have a solid case for illegal possession of firearms and explosives against the suspects, saying “they were caught in flagrante.”

“At the time of their arrest, they were caught conducting training on bomb making,” he said.

A total of seven criminal cases – three for illegal possession of firearms, three for violation of the Commission on Elections gun ban, and one for illegal possession of explosives — were filed Thursday by government prosecutors against the arrested health workers.