The Morong 43 and the military

not NPA, eh? 

The military recently arrested 43 health workers suspected to be members and supporters of the New People’s Army (NPA)--the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines--at a resthouse  in Morong, Rizal. They were detained on suspicion that they were conducting bomb-making activities... explosives and firearms were also found during the raid. The detainees deny the allegations and swore they are just health workers attending a health seminar.

The military declares that their intelligence gathering is top-notch this time. If that's the case then this could have been a huge tactical victory against these Maoist rebels for the military, except that they took it upon themselves to overstep their authority in this situation. Keeping the detainees from contacting their families and lawyers for days, even refusing at first to present them to the courts and the media. These actions are just outrageous and frankly stupid.

One of my nephews is in the army and he'd been ambushed several times by these terrorist rebels. I have no sympathy for the NPA and whatever the heck they are fighting for (communism, really?) is nonsensical to me. But even if the so-called Morong 43 are in fact members of the NPA, they still have rights under our constitution and the military should respect those rights.

Update: 5 of the 43 have admitted they are members of the NPA: