The Nacionalista Party (NP) and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers expressed concern on the alleged illegal arrest and continued illegal detention of 43 health workers allegedly abducted by soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) last February 6.

In a statement, the NP said: “We are deeply concerned about the plight of the 43 health workers who were arrested by the military.”

“Lalo kaming nabahala nang malaman namin na ipinagkait ang ilan sa kanilang karapatang tao. Sa umpisa,hindi sila pinayagan na makipag-usap kaninuman kahit sa mga representatives ng Commission on Human Rights (We became alarmed when we learned they have been deprived their rights. From the start, they were not allowed to speak to any representative from the CHR),” the party said.

The NP, which is carrying Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. as its standard bearer, said they condemn any violation or abuse of human rights.

“We condemn any violation or abuse of human rights. Ang korte na ang nag-utos na iharap ng military ang mga health workers pero hindi pa rin ito sinunod (The courts have already ordered the military to comply with a writ of habeas corpus, but until now they refuse to obey),” the statement further said.

The health workers should definitely be allowed to attend the court proceedings, the party reiterated.

According to them, the manner and circumstances of the health workers’ arrest and detention already raised a lot of questions. Thus, the authorities should ensure that the legal procedures would be followed.

In a statement, the NUPL said that the act of the military shows a blatant disregard and disrespect not only of proper legal procedures but also of basic human dignity, and is replete with human rights violations left and right.

“From the very beginning, the search itself was illegal, because it proceeded from a search warrant that was invalid on its face. But the indubitable fact is that the “evidence” that was presented were routinarily planted to justify and cover-up the illegality of this blunder,” the NUPL said.

“The arrested health workers were also denied their basic constitutional rights which every civilized society should follow. They were purposely uninformed of the nature of their arrest, and they were simply blindfolded and led away like cattle. Also, all the health workers were denied visit by counsel, doctors, and family, in clear contravention of their rights,” the group added.