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NEWS RELEASE

August 19, 2010

Reference: Cristina Palabay, Tanggol Bai Convenor (0917-5003879)

WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS APPEAL FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF
NURSING MOTHER AND HER THREE-WEEK OLD BABY

Tanggol Bai, an association of women human rights defenders, today called for the immediate release of Carina “Judilyn” Oliveros and her three-weeks old baby from detention, after their recent transfer from the Philippine General Hospital to detention facilities in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig yesterday.

Oliveros is among the Morong 43, the forty three community health workers and medical professionals who were illegally arrested on false and fabricated charges, tortured and detained since February 6, 2010. Twenty seven of them are women, two were pregnant at the time of the
arrest.

Cristina Palabay, Tanggol Bai convenor, said the transfer is an inhumane move detrimental to the conditions of both mother and baby.

“The detention facility is not a place for a mother and her newly born. The detention cells are cramped and poorly ventilated, therefore a highly unsuitable place for Oliveros to recover from her caesarian delivery and for the baby to be breastfed,” she said.

Palabay cites the baby’s attending pediatrician’s opinion that breastfeeding is essential in ensuring the child’s normal growth and development and that the mother should be housed in a comfortable and stress-free environment for continuous breastfeeding and post natal
care.

“The mother and child’s detention speaks of the continued injustice against Oliveros and the rest of the Morong 43. Oliveros and baby should be released immediately for clear humanitarian reasons. We call on Pres. Aquino to heed this call for justice in his first 100 days in office,” she commented

Tanggol Bai cites the case of Zenaida Llesis and her 11-month child, who were released for humanitarian reasons in 2004, as a precedent for the said action. The baby was suffering then from congenital heart
disease and liver failure.

“There are more than sixty women political prisoners in the country, most of them were victims of illegal and arbitrary arrests and detention under the Macapagal-Arroyo government. It is high time that Pres. Aquino attends to their calls for immediate release and that of the release of all political prisoners,” Palabay concluded.

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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.