New AFP operations chief maintains innocence vs torture raps

From GMANews (Nov 12): New AFP operations chief maintains innocence vs torture raps

Brig. Gen. Aurelio Balalad, who is currently facing torture complaints filed against him by members of the so-called Morong 43, has been designated as the new Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief of staff for operations. A member of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1982, Balalad assumed his new post last Friday in rites presided by AFP deputy chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gregorio Macapagal. Balalad was previously the deputy commander of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division. Before that, he was commander of the Army 202nd Brigade that figured in the arrest of the Morong 43 in February 2010 in Morong, Rizal. Military officials claimed that the 43 were members of the communist New People’s Army who were engaged in a bomb-making seminar at the time of their arrest. Most of those arrested denied the accusations, however, claiming they were health workers. The suspects were detained and charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Five of them confessed that they were members of the NPA and availed of the government’s social integration program. But on December 8, 2010, 10 months after their arrest, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the charges against the Morong 43 be dropped. The detainees were subsequently released from detention. Last May, eight of the suspects filed torture charges before the Department of Justice against Balalad and then President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for their alleged maltreatment during their detention. Also named in the complaint were then AFP chief Gen. Victor Ibrado, then Army chief Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, then 2nd Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Jorge Segovia and several other military and police officers. “It is a pending case,” Balalad said of the torture charges filed against him. Nevertheless, he maintained his, and his co-respondents’ innocence. “We have five [members of the Morong 43] who are saying otherwise, they were not tortured. You can interview the five. They are available and they are saying another thing,” Balalad said in a phone interview. Balalad added that the five members of the Morong 43 confirmed that they were being trained as “combat medics” at the time they were arrested by the military. “Combat medics and health workers are different things,” he said. As for his plans as the new AFP deputy chief for operations, Balalad said he would continue with the existing programs started by his predecessors.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/281879/news/nation/new-afp-operations-chief-maintains-innocence-vs-torture-raps