Don’t be onion-skinned on Morong 43 issue, Aquino told

http://www.inquirer.net/mindandbody/healthbeat/view.php?db=1&article=20101209-307884

MANILA, Philippines—A lawyer for the Morong 43 Wednesday appealed to President Benigno Aquino III not to be “onion-skinned” on an issue that will continue to fester for as long as it is not properly resolved.

“He becomes irritated when he is asked about the [Morong 43] but that should not be the case. He should not get tired of answering the issue until it is resolved. It is a legitimate issue until it is resolved. He cannot just brush it aside,” said Edre Olalia, who is secretary general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers.

And if Mr. Aquino is becoming irritated about the issue, lawyers for the detained health workers are “frustrated, disappointed and outraged” over his latest pronouncements, Olalia said.

The President on Tuesday said that he would let the courts decide the fate of the Morong 43.

Olalia stressed that the “lives and freedom” of the detained health workers remain in Mr. Aquino's hands.

The Morong 43 refers to a group of health workers who were arrested earlier this year in a Morong, Rizal resthouse on suspicion that they were communist rebels. They are being held on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives and violation of the gun ban.