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NEWS RELEASE
August 19, 2010
For Reference: Fr. Dionito Cabillas, SELDA National Secretariat
(0917-5965859)
SELDA CONDEMNS TRANSFER OF NEWBORN AND DETAINED MOTHER TO JAIL;
CALLS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF MOTHER AND CHILD
The Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Para sa Amnestiya (SELDA),
an organization of former and current political prisoners, today slammed
the recent transfer of Carina "Judilyn" Oliveros, one of the political
prisoners collectively known as the Morong 43, and her 3-weeks old baby
from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to the Women’s Sector Metro
Manila District Jail – SICA Compound facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in
Taguig.
“We strongly protest the transfer of Oliveros and baby because conditions
in the detention facility are not all good for both baby and nursing
mother. We appeal to the Pres. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino for their
immediate release on recognizance for humanitarian reasons,” Fr. Dionito
Cabillas, SELDA National Secretariat, said.
Cabillas said mother and child are currently detained at a cell inside the
MMDJ-SICA Compound, where it is crowded and damp. Oliveros and baby are
highly susceptible to diseases borne out of such jail conditions, he
added.
Oliveros and her child were transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa yesterday upon
the issuance of a court order by Judge Gina Cenit-Escoto of Branch 78,
Regional Trial Court in Morong Rizal after denying Oliveros’ Motion for
Release on Recognizance for humanitarian reasons, citing the non-existence
of basis that the release may be granted. The order was granted despite
the withdrawal of the initial objection of state prosecutors for the said
motion to release.
“This manifests the graver injustices experienced by Oliveros and child,
as well as the rest of the Morong 43, who are victims of illegal arrests,
torture and detention. Justice remains elusive for the doctors and
community based health workers, even pregnant and nursing mothers like
Oliveros. Such is the deplorable state of the more than 400 political
prisoners in the country, many of them were illegally arrested and
imprisoned under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration,” Cabillas further
said.
SELDA also expressed support for the noise barrage conducted by the Morong
43 today in Camp Bagong Diwa in protest of the transfer and continued
detention of Oliveros and baby.
Morong 43 Statement on Judilyn Oliveros and Baby’s Transfer to Bicutan
Jail
August 20, 2010
*The Morong 43 today conducted a noise barrage inside jail facilities in
Camp Bagong Diwa in protest of the transfer of Oliveros and baby.
Judilyn Oliveros and baby must be released immediately!
We, the 43 accused community health workers call on the Aquino government
to immediately release Judilyn Oliveeros and baby from prison.
Judilyn Oliveros, one of us accused community health workers, just gave
birth to a baby boy last July 22 by caesarian operation. Barely three
weeks from delivery, she is compelled by the authorities to be brought
back to prison despite of our lawyer’s motion for release on recognizance.
She has not fully recovered from her operation and the baby still needs
nourishment from his mother and too young to be mixed in prison.
This is an additional injustice to Judilyn. Like us who are illegally
arrested and detained, being pregnant while in prison is an additional
suffering and sacrifice on her part. She was not spared from psychological
and torture in the hands of the military. Just after being blindfolded and
handcuffed for 36 hours, she was placed under solitary confinement. In her
cell, she had been interrogated anytime at night or day by one or more
military men. She was also threatened to be electrocuted when she joined
our protest action against the military who forcibly took or ‘kidnapped’
our five companions from their cells in Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal.
Need Judilyn and baby have to suffer more? Is justice and humaneness
elusive again as in the era of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?
We, 43 community health workers stand firm and continue to campaign for
Judilyn and baby to be out of from jail. Even during the fascist rule of
Ferdinand Marcos detained pregnant and nursing mothers were released from
prison. We appeal to President Aquino III for humane treatment and speedy
justice by releasing Judilyn and baby immediately out of prison!
Release Judilyn Oliveros and baby immediately!
Free the 43 community health workers and other political prisoners!
--
The Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Para sa Amnestiya (SELDA)
- Philippines is an organization of political prisoners and former
political detainees in the country. Founded in December 4, 1984, SELDA was
initiated by former political prisoners during the Martial Law period. It
works for the unconditional release of all political prisoners and humane
treatment of those who are still in detention; for the advocacy on the
conditions of political prisoners, the fundamental reasons for their
arrest and detention, and their struggle for justice; mobilization of
resources for political prisoners and their families; legislative actions
on the indemnification and rehabilitation of political detainees; and
promotion of partnerships and solidarity with organizations for the
freedom and welfare of political prisoners and victims of tyranny. |
 |
 |
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News Release
August 19, 2010
Bayan calls on Aquino admin to review cases of 'Morong 43' after mom
and child brought to Bicutan jail
The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) today denounced what
it described as the "inhumane" transfer of political detainee Judilyn
Oliveros and her three-week-old son from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH)
to the police's Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City. Bayan also said
Oliveros and her son's transfer underscores the need for the government to
review the cases filed against the "Morong 43."
Oliveros was led out of the PGH on a wheelchair and in handcuffs. She was
not able to carry her baby on the trip during the transfer.
Oliveros is one of the health workers collectively known as the “Morong
43,” who were arrested last Feb. 6 on the basis of a defective warrant
while holding a Community First Responders’ Health Training in Morong,
Rizal. They were detained at the military’s Camp Mateo Capinpin in Tanay,
Rizal, where they were subjected to inquest proceedings without counsel.
They face charges of illegal possession of firearms, illegal possession of
explosives, and violation of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gun
ban. Several of them have told of having been tortured while at Camp
Capinpin. They were transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa on May 1.
Oliveros, a first-time mother, gave birth by Caesarian section at the PGH
on July 22. She had been nursing her son in a room there under guard. It
is not known whether the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) has
set up facilities for Oliveros and her son at Camp Bagong Diwa.
The lawyers of the “Morong 43,” led by Romeo Capulong of the Public
Interest Law Center (PILC) and the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL),
have filed a petition for Oliveros’s release on recognizance to allow her
to breastfeed her son for at least six months.
State Prosecutor II Romeo Senson, the same prosecutor who subjected the 43
health workers to “inquest,” had filed a motion to oppose the petition.
But Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has expressed support for the
non-separation of Oliveros from her son, and ordered the withdrawal of
Senson's motion.
Morong Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Gina Escoto, however, denied the
petition of Oliveros's lawyers.
"What happened at the Philippine General Hospital was cruel," Bayan
secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said. "Mother and child should not have
been brought into an unsafe facility. The handcuffing of a mother on a
wheelchair is also too much."
"The transfer of Oliveros and her son to Bicutan highlights the urgent
need for the government, through the Department of Justice (DoJ), to
review the cases filed against the 43 health workers," Reyes said.
"Another 'Morong 43' detainee, Mercy Castro, is scheduled to give birth in
October. The longer the cases against the 43 are not reviewed, the more it
becomes possible for the fate of Oliveros and her son to be repeated."
Bayan urged the Morong RTC to reconsider its decision of sending Oliveros
and her child back to jail. “Both should be released on humanitarian
grounds. All 43 detainees should be released because the charges against
them are false and the arrests made were illegal,” Reyes said.
###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dateline Manila
Carlos Conde
Location: Manila, Philippines
Mother and newborn sent to jail in Philippines
Aug. 19 2010 - 04:12 pm
Even as Filipinos are so worked up with the torture by the police of a
robbery suspect, practically nothing is being said – except by activists –
about the fate of Judilyn Oliveros, one of the so-called Morong 43
political detainees who was returned to a cramped and dirty prison cell
after she gave birth to a baby boy.
Yesterday, she was brought to court still in a wheelchair, handcuffed and
was thus unable to hold her son in the short time that she was outside of
jail. That same day, she and the boy went to jail after the court denied
her appeal for temporary freedom, despite the fact that the Department of
Justice has withdrawn its opposition to her petition.
Oliveros and the rest of the Morong 43 are the Aquino administration’s
prisoners of conscience. Their rights were violated, the circumstances of
their arrest questionable, their continuing detention a testament to the
failure by the new dispensation to live up to its promise of change.
As one activist notes, the imprisonment of Oliveros and her child is
happening under a president whose father had suffered a similar fate.
As long as the Morong 43 are in jail, anything this government says about
human rights and respect for civil liberties will ring
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS RELEASE
20 August 2010
For Reference: Cristina Palabay, Tanggol Bai convenor (0917-5003879)
WOMEN POLITICAL PRISONERS OF THE MORONG 43 STAGE NOISE BARRAGE; CALL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF JUDILYN AND BABY
Women political prisoners from the Morong 43, the group of medical
professionals and community health workers illegally arrested, tortured
and are currently still detained yesterday held a noise barrage inside the
women’s detention facility at the Metro Manila District Jail – SICA
Compound, Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.
The women detainees conducted the said activity in protest of the recent
transfer of Carina “Judilyn” Oliveros and her three-week old baby from the
Philippine General Hospital to the said detention facility.
“This is an additional injustice to Judilyn. Like us who are illegally
arrested and detained, being pregnant while in prison is an additional
suffering and sacrifice on her part…Need Judilyn and baby have to suffer
more? Is justice and humaneness elusive again as in the era of Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo? We stand firm and continue to campaign for Judilyn and
baby’s immediate release,” the women said in their collective statement on
the issue.
Visitation rights were suspended for yesterday at the women’s sector after
the noise barrage of the women political prisoners as part of their
"disciplinary action," according to jail officials. Some relatives of the
women of Morong 43 were not allowed to visit. Sunning rights were also
suspended for one week.
Cristina Palabay, convenor of Tanggol Bai (Association of Women Human
Rights Defenders), said the noise barrage of the Morong 43 is a legitimate
exercise of their right to free expression.
“Prison officials should also be reminded that under Republic Act 7438,
every arrested or detained person shall be allowed visits or conferences
with any member of his/her immediate family, among other individuals and
institutions,” Palabay stated.
The women political prisoners appealed to Pres. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy”
Aquino III for humane treatment and speedy justice by releasing Oliveros
and baby and all political prisoners.
“We call on Pres. Aquino to exercise prudence and understanding on the
plight of political prisoners as his late father, Senator Benigno Aquino,
was himself a victim of political persecution under the Marcos
administration. Free the 43 health workers, free all political prisoners,”
they said.
----------------------------------------------
 |
Morong 43 Statement on Judilyn Oliveros and
Baby’s Transfer to Bicutan Jail
August 20, 2010
*The Morong 43 yesterday conducted a noise barrage inside jail facilities
in Camp Bagong Diwa in protest of the transfer of Oliveros and baby.
Judilyn Oliveros and baby must be released immediately!
We, the 43 accused community health workers call on the Aquino government
to immediately release Judilyn Oliveeros and baby from prison.
Judilyn Oliveros, one of us accused community health workers, just gave
birth to a baby boy last July 22 by caesarian operation. Barely three
weeks from delivery, she is compelled by the authorities to be brought
back to prison despite of our lawyer’s motion for release on recognizance.
She has not fully recovered from her operation and the baby still needs
nourishment from his mother and too young to be mixed in prison.
This is an additional injustice to Judilyn. Like us who are illegally
arrested and detained, being pregnant while in prison is an additional
suffering and sacrifice on her part. She was not spared from psychological
and torture in the hands of the military. Just after being blindfolded and
handcuffed for 36 hours, she was placed under solitary confinement. In her
cell, she had been interrogated anytime at night or day by one or more
military men. She was also threatened to be electrocuted when she joined
our protest action against the military who forcibly took or ‘kidnapped’
our five companions from their cells in Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal.
Need Judilyn and baby have to suffer more? Is justice and humaneness
elusive again as in the era of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?
We, 43 community health workers stand firm and continue to campaign for
Judilyn and baby to be out of from jail. Even during the fascist rule of
Ferdinand Marcos detained pregnant and nursing mothers were released from
prison. We appeal to President Aquino III for humane treatment and speedy
justice by releasing Judilyn and baby immediately out of prison!
Release Judilyn Oliveros and baby immediately!
Free the 43 community health workers and other political prisoners!
--
Tanggol Bai is an association of women human rights defenders in the
Philippines to advance women’s rights as human rights. Tanggol Bai is
formed to further develop the capability of women human rights defenders
to protect and advance women’s, human and peoples’ rights while giving
special attention to the rights of WHRDs; to provide a venue by which
WHRDs can give mutual assistance to one another especially to those who
are facing immediate threats; provide information and facilitate HR
education to WHRDs to even better sensitize them to violations of
political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights; through common
effort, enable WHRDs to effectively forward policies and legislations,
fight for their rights and generate resources for the needs of their human
rights advocacy; and network with other human rights organizations in the
country and abroad.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the release on recognizance of Judielyn
Oliveros and her baby, and call for freedom of the Morong 43
Privilege Speech of Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Luzviminda C. Ilagan
August 04, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a question of personal and collective
privilege.
As a mother and a representative of a Women's Political Party, I raise the
issue of a woman political prisoner who has just given birth.
Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, this
week, 120 countries all over the world including the Philippines,
celebrate the World Breastfeeding Week. This celebration aims to encourage
breastfeeding and to improve the health of babies all over the world. It
commemorates the Innocenti Declaration made by the World Health
Organization and UNICEF policy-makers in August 1990 to protect, promote
and support breastfeeding.
It is most ironic, however, that while we are
celebrating World Breastfeeding Week, a newborn baby is in danger of being
separated from its mother or of being thrust into an environment that
would disrupt this critical feeding process and much-needed emotional
bonding between mother and child.
I refer, Mr Speaker, to the case of Judielyn
Oliveros, a community health worker, who was illegally arrested on
February 6, 2010 along with the 43 other health professionals and
volunteer health workers. She was 3 months pregnant at the time of the
arrest. She went through the most horrible experiences a pregnant woman
could ever have. She was one of those blindfolded and handcuffed for 36
hours, subjected to multiple and prolonged tactical interrogation with
death threats, harassment and intimidation. She was among those who were
manhandled and beaten, denied legal counsel for days, deprived of sleep,
denied of medical treatment and subjected to various indignities during
captivity.
On July 22, 2010 , the 26 year old Judielyn
delivered a baby boy by caesarian section at the Philippine General
Hospital. The baby was immediately roomed-in with his mother in order to
initiate full breastfeeding.
Yesterday, this representation visited
Judielyn and her newborn at the Philippine General Hospital. I also
learned that the jail warden had also visited and informed Judielyn that
after she is discharged, she will be brought back to her detention cell.
She is now confronted with the unfortunate and heartbreaking dilemma of
leaving her two-week old child in the care of other people or bringing it
with her to the distressing confines of a prison cell.
Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, I am
concerned for the mother and even more for the baby, for I know that
stress experienced by a woman during pregnancy affects the unborn and then
after birth, the full benefits of bonding and breastfeeding an infant are
dependent on the physical, psychological and emotional well-being of both
mother and child. It is without doubt, that since February 6 until now,
the possibility of a stress-free environment is certainly non-existent.
Judielyn Oliveros, as a first time mother
wants to breastfeed her baby. Like any other mother, she wants to ensure
the normal growth and development of her child, despite the fact of her
captivity.
Citing the policy of the World Health
Organization that exclusive breastfeeding be given for 6 months but to be
continued as long as the mother has milk, Dr. Lorna Abad Ramos, the
attending pediatrician of Judielyn’s baby has emphasized in her
certification that “to ensure milk production by the mother, the baby has
to be constantly fed from her breast. It is also important that the mother
is stress free and be housed in comfortable place.”
Mr. Speaker, ang pinagdaanan ni Judielyn
Oliveros sa pagdadalang-tao at patuloy na pinagdadaanan niya ngayong siya
ay nanganak na ay malinaw na paglabag sa karapatang pantao, hindi lamang
ni Judielyn, kundi lalo't higit ng kanyang sanggol.
Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig where
Judielyn and the other health workers are detained lacks adequate
facilities that would be needed for the mother and child to have a healthy
and comfortable environment for breastfeeding, nursing and bonding. It
lacks proper ventilation and is an unhealthy place to nurture a newborn.
Twenty-three women stay in one small room. According to the detainees, the
bathroom floods and the detention cell is flooded when it rains.
Napakahirap po na sitwasyon ito para sa mga nakakulong at lalung lalo na
sa isang bagong panganak na ina at bagong silang na sanggol.
Mr. Speaker, ang kinatawang ito ay lubhang
nababahala sa maaring maging epekto sa kalusugan ng bata habang siya ay
nasa loob ng kulungan. Para sa kaalaman ng aking mga kasamahan dito sa
Kapulungan, maraming mga detenido ang dumadanas sa kasalukuyan ng iba't
ibang sakit bunga ng hindi maayos at malusog na kalagayan, at ng
pabago-bagong panahon. Sa ganitong kalagayan, hindi malayong magkasakit
ang sanggol kapag sila ng kanyang ina ay manatili sa loob ng detensiyon.
Inaalala din ng kinatawang ito ang posibleng maging epektong sikolohikal
sa bata sa kanyang paglaki.
I, therefore, call upon this chamber to
immediately take a stand and recommend the release of Judielyn Oliveros
and her baby on recognizance for humanitarian reasons. Bishop Reuel N.O.
Marigsa, general secretary of United Church of Christ in the Philippines,
has expressed willingness to take Judielyn Oliveros under recognizance and
under the care of his office.
Mr. Speaker, the United Nations Declaration of
the Rights of the Child, Principle 2, states that, “The child shall enjoy
special protection, and shall be given opportunities and facilities, by
law and by other means, to enable him to develop physically, mentally,
morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in
conditions of freedom and dignity. In the enactment of laws for this
purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount
consideration”.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, Gabriela Women's Party
calls for the immediate release of the Morong 43, specially of three women
detainees on humanitarian reasons. Aside from Judielyn Oliveros, another
pregnant detainee, Mercy Castro, is scheduled to give birth in October of
this year. Another detainee, Jane Beltran-Balleta, grandaughter of our
former colleague, Rep. Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran, who suffers from epilepsy
has been seeking treatment for the epileptic fits she has been
experiencing.
Let us continue to uphold human rights,
epecially the rights of women and children. As the sole women's party in
this Congress, Gabriela Women's Party enjoins members of this august body
to support us in our advocacy of protecting and upholding the rights of
women and children, of health and human rights workers, and the rest of
marginalized sectors of our society.
Thank you. |
August 27, 2010
It’s been two months since
Benigno C. Aquino III became president, and since then, despite
assertions to the contrary, not much has changed in the Philippines
and the state of human rights.
Noynoy has promised that he
would be very different from his predecessor, but he has yet to
prove it. If he was sincere in his declaration that he will uphold
human rights and undo all the damage his predecessor has done to
civil liberties, then he should not hesitate to take immediate
action on two very pressing issues: 1) the long-standing and
well-justified claim of Hacienda Luisita farmworkers to the land
they have made productive for two decades; and 2) the Morong 43.
Noynoy’s stand on the first
has been patently clear even before he became president: he refuses
to recognize the legal and more importantly moral right of the
farmworkers to HLI.
As for the second, he has not said a word.
One would have thought that
given Noynoy’s own experiences as the son of Ninoy, a former
political detainee who was eventually brutally assassinated by the
government he refused to give in to, Noynoy would show more
compassion towards all political detainees. One also would have
thought that Noynoy would rush to free all political prisoners and
put an end to all military operations and government programs that
allow for a culture of impunity and injustice to flourish.
——————–
The community health workers
known as the Morong 43 have been unjustly imprisoned since February
6, 2010. They were in the middle of a one-week health training
program sponsored by the Community Medicine Foundation Incorporated
(COMMED) and the Council for Health and Development (CHD) in Morong,
Rizal. Among them were two medical doctors, a registered nurse, two
midwives, two health educators and 36 volunteer community health
workers.
Very early on Feb. 6, an
estimated 300 soldiers in full battle gear from the Armed Forces of
the Philippines’ (AFP) 2nd Infantry Division and the Rizal
Provincial Police raided the venue. The participants of the training
– 43 in all — were manhandled, blindfolded, handcuffed and taken to
Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal. They were not shown a search or arrest
warrant, neither were they told why they were being arrested. They
were denied legal counsel, and for hours before the alarm was
sounded, the 43 health workers suffered cruel treatment at the hands
of their military guards.
For 36 hours the 43 experienced
various forms of torture – mental, physical and psychological – and
then they were verbally accused of illegal possession of fire arms
and explosives. It was only on February 11, however, five days after
they were arrested were they formally charged with same at the the
RTC Branch 78,in Morong Rizal.
Soon after it came out that the
43 were arrested on a defective warrant, and if they were not forced
to testify at the hearings initiated by the Commission on Human
Rights (CHR), the AFP would not have admitted that the search
warrant was completely bogus — it was issued in the name of an
unknown and most likely fictitious man supposedly named ‘Mario
Condes.’
Six months have passed, and the
43 remain detained. In the meantime, one of them has given birth. On
July 22, Carina Judilyn Oliveros’ son was born and like his mother,
he became a prisoner of the state.
It’s painful to imagine how
Judilyn suffered the last six months. Any woman who has been
pregnant will testify that pregnancy is not easy. The body changes
and with it one’s state of mind and feeling. One if often in a state
of discomfort; and even when one deeply loves the unborn child
growing inside one’s body, it cannot be denied that one does not
love the aches and pains, the swollen feet and ankles, the oddness
of appetite, the mood swings and the fear of something bad happening
to the baby.
Judilyn suffered through all
this,and more: she suffered them as an innocent prisoner surrounded
by armed guards, with no immediate access to family and friends, and
perpetually plagued by memories of torture. In fact, during her
first 36 hours as a detainee, she was denied food and water, and
denied rest: she was questioned again and again, and doubtless, even
without the interrogation, sleep was always far from coming and when
it did, it was restless.
Judilyn gave birth at the
Philippine General Hospital, but immediately after she and her baby
were taken back to Camp Bagong Diwa, the Bureau of Jail Management
and Penology’s (BJMP) detention facility in Bicutan where all of the
Morong 43 were detained after their transfer from Camp Capinpin. The
new mother was handcuffed and not allowed to carry her son as they
left the hospital.
Again, the shortest separation
between a mother and a newborn brings a measure of pain. The mother
is often unable to keep her eyes of her child, and sometimes the
urge, the need to constantly touch and kiss the baby is so strong
that the fulfillment of it brings tears. In a just and humane
society, she would have been immediately released if not for the
complete illegality of the charges against her (and the rest of the
Morong 43), then on humanitarian grounds.
|
Instead, Judilyn remained a prisoner:
Judge Gina Cenat Escoto of the Morong RTC rejected the petition Judilyn’s
lawyers filed for her temporary release on recognizance due to
humanitarian reasons: Judily wanted to breastfeed her child and take care
of him in a place conducive to the health and safety of a child. On Aug.
16, the court ordered Judilyn’s return to Bicutan, saying that there was
no basis to allow her release.
Undaunted, Judilyn’s lawyers from the
National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) and the Public Interest Law
Center (PILC) filed an appeal, and on August 25, the court reversed its
previous ruling and allowed Judilyn and her baby to return to the PGH and
stay there for three months. The RTC issued the more humane decision after
the Department of Justice dropped its opposition to the original motion
and gave recognition to the provisions of the United Nations’
Innocenti Declaration on the Protection, Promotion and Support of
Breastfeeding.
As of this writing, mother and baby
are still at Camp Bagong Diwa and the BJMP is yet to receive the court
order to effect the transfer.
—–
When one thinks of Judilyn, one cannot help but think of other mothers.
The large majority of Filipino
mothers give birth and raise their children in conditions that are far
from the ideal. Because of poverty, many rely on the often limited
services and medical provisions of public health centers. Most do not have
access to valuable information on how to take care of their health to
prevent pregnancy-related diseases like gestational diabetes.
Those in the far-flung areas do not
even see doctors and depend only on community midwives. In the more
squalid areas in the urban centers, pregnant women are often
undernourished, and their babies are born underweight. Some are born with
deformities, or worse, they die at birth or shortly after.
Immediately after giving birth, these
new mothers are forced to get up and attend not only to the needs of their
newborns, but the needs of the rest of their families. If employed, to go
back to work. Those who are homemakers fight their fatigue and perform
their duties as such. If some suffer from postnatal depression, there is
no way to diagnose it: ever so often in the seedier tabloids there are
reports of mothers suffocating their babies or drowning them in nearby
canals.
Then the mothers face the challenge
of struggling to be always strong, not so much for themselves, but for
their children.
The social, political and economic
realities of life in a country as backward as the Philippines are without
doubt harsh,and especially for children. Because of a system of government
that lays siege to the most fundamental of human rights — the right to
protect the self and to live in dignity and peace — mothers suffer seeing
their children grow up lacking adequate food, safe shelter, good
education, access to immediate medical attention.As for their children,
thankfully, many are blissfully unaware of what society has denied them.
The sacrifices of mothers are myriad,
and they never end, but because of the bond of love, these sacrifices are
willingly shouldered, even embraced.
Judilyn Oliveros and her son have a
long and difficult struggle ahead of them as citizens of a country wherein
social justice is but a phrase that means very little to those in power.
As political detainees, they now suffer being directly denied their right
as innocent civilians to be free.
Judilyn, it is certain, now thinks
and worries of her son’s welfare more often than she does about her own.
What anger she justly feels against
the injustice done against her and the rest of the Morong 43 is without
doubt sharpened by the knowledge that her imprisonment also means
imprisonment for her son. She is a mother now, and all the commitment she
has devoted to her political advocacy and acknowledged duty as a health
worker serving the poor can only be strengthened by the love she has for
her child.
She remains true to her calling, and
her fight for freedom is also a fight for her son. Given this, the
unjustness of her plight should anger all mothers, and all those who
believe in justice.
Free Judilyn Oliveros and son! Free
the 43!
—
The Health Alliance for Democracy, Karapatan, and Gabriela are
also campaigning for the immediate release on human grounds of another
member of the Morong 43, 27-year old Mercy Castro. Mercy is seven months
pregnant and is expected to give birth in October.
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