Source: PDI
MANILA, Philippines—One of the five who broke away from the group of health workers that came to be known collectively as “Morong 43” has married a soldier she met in a military camp in Tanay, Rizal.
Jenilyn Pizarro, 19, said she and her 23-year-old husband were married last March 20 at St. Martin’s Chapel of Camp Capinpin, the headquarters of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division.
She said that her parents were present at the ceremony and that three military officers were among their wedding sponsors.
But she asked that her new husband be referred to by the alias Private First Class Matibay, apparently for security reasons.
Pizarro, the youngest of the five who had claimed to be communist guerrillas and defected to the military, said her husband was not among the troops who arrested their group on Feb. 6, 2010, in Morong town, Rizal province.
She said she met him in Camp Capinpin last December, after the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed against the Morong 43 were officially dropped.
“His battalion came over for training. We met and got acquainted here,” she told the Inquirer over the phone, speaking in Filipino.
Pizarro, who turns 20 in August, said she had many suitors in Camp Capinpin but that she was so swept off her feet that she agreed to marry after three months of courtship.
“He seemed serious to me, and besides I love him,” she said.
Rallying point
The Morong 43, which included six medical practitioners, were arrested while attending a seminar on community healthcare at a resort in Morong, Rizal.
They were accused of being members of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and of learning how to make explosives at the seminar—charges that they denied.
The Morong 43 became a rallying point for militant groups in the last year of the Arroyo administration and until the first few months of the Aquino administration.
Ten months after their arrest, President Benigno Aquino III ordered their release after the dropping of charges, as a confidence-building measure ahead of the resumption of peace talks between the government and communist rebels.
Two remain detained up to now on the strength of other criminal charges.
Pizarro and the four others who had claimed that they and the rest of Morong 43 were communist rebels—Valentin Paulino, John Mark Barrientos, Cherilyn Tawagon and Helen Carandang—are still in Camp Capinpin.
Release them
Jules Matibag, a lawyer for the Morong 43, said the military should release Pizarro and the four others from Camp Capinpin to prove that they were indeed free.
In an interview, Matibag said he and his colleagues had heard a report that one of the detainees in the military camp had married a soldier. He said that according to the report, Pizarro, the youngest of the detainees, had caught the eye of a soldier in the camp.
Matibag said they could not confirm or deny this report as they had not been allowed to talk to the five since last year.
“We have no information on them. The military said they are free, but they are still in the camp,” Matibag said.
He said soldiers accompanied the five whenever they left the camp or were interviewed by reporters.
‘Not true’
Last week, the six medical practitioners—two doctors, a nurse and three registered midwives—filed a P15-million damage suit against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her former defense chief, two former military chiefs and six incumbent military and police officials for physical and psychological torture.
When asked for comment, Pizarro said: “That’s not true because nothing like that happened to me.”
She said she turned her back on the armed rebellion because she had experienced sexual harassment in an NPA camp in Quezon province and had witnessed other harassment instances that were not acted upon.
“They did not respect women even if they say men and women are equal,” Pizarro said.
“I was molested. I was groped when I was sleeping,” she said, adding that she screamed and tried to grab her gun but could not lift it.
She said her molester, a vice squad leader, was merely demoted to being a regular guerrilla.
‘It’s better here’
Pizarro said she and her four colleagues had chosen to stay in Camp Capinpin out of their own volition.
She denied that they were being forced by soldiers to stay.
“That’s not true because wherever we go it’s OK. For us, we’re secured. It’s better that we’re here. If we’re outside the camp, it would be more dangerous because of our admission, our telling the truth,” she said.
Pizarro said she would not feel safe outside the camp where her purported former comrades in the rebel movement would be able to get to her. She said some of them had managed to communicate with her, urging her to escape.
“I told them it’s better to live normally than hide all your life. I want to live together with my family,” she said.
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MANILA, Philippines—One of the five who broke away from the group of health workers that came to be known collectively as “Morong 43” has married a soldier she met in a military camp in Tanay, Rizal.
Jenilyn Pizarro, 19, said she and her 23-year-old husband were married last March 20 at St. Martin’s Chapel of Camp Capinpin, the headquarters of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division.
She said that her parents were present at the ceremony and that three military officers were among their wedding sponsors.
But she asked that her new husband be referred to by the alias Private First Class Matibay, apparently for security reasons.
Pizarro, the youngest of the five who had claimed to be communist guerrillas and defected to the military, said her husband was not among the troops who arrested their group on Feb. 6, 2010, in Morong town, Rizal province.
She said she met him in Camp Capinpin last December, after the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed against the Morong 43 were officially dropped.
“His battalion came over for training. We met and got acquainted here,” she told the Inquirer over the phone, speaking in Filipino.
Pizarro, who turns 20 in August, said she had many suitors in Camp Capinpin but that she was so swept off her feet that she agreed to marry after three months of courtship.
“He seemed serious to me, and besides I love him,” she said.
Rallying point
The Morong 43, which included six medical practitioners, were arrested while attending a seminar on community healthcare at a resort in Morong, Rizal.
They were accused of being members of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and of learning how to make explosives at the seminar—charges that they denied.
The Morong 43 became a rallying point for militant groups in the last year of the Arroyo administration and until the first few months of the Aquino administration.
Ten months after their arrest, President Benigno Aquino III ordered their release after the dropping of charges, as a confidence-building measure ahead of the resumption of peace talks between the government and communist rebels.
Two remain detained up to now on the strength of other criminal charges.
Pizarro and the four others who had claimed that they and the rest of Morong 43 were communist rebels—Valentin Paulino, John Mark Barrientos, Cherilyn Tawagon and Helen Carandang—are still in Camp Capinpin.
Release them
Jules Matibag, a lawyer for the Morong 43, said the military should release Pizarro and the four others from Camp Capinpin to prove that they were indeed free.
In an interview, Matibag said he and his colleagues had heard a report that one of the detainees in the military camp had married a soldier. He said that according to the report, Pizarro, the youngest of the detainees, had caught the eye of a soldier in the camp.
Matibag said they could not confirm or deny this report as they had not been allowed to talk to the five since last year.
“We have no information on them. The military said they are free, but they are still in the camp,” Matibag said.
He said soldiers accompanied the five whenever they left the camp or were interviewed by reporters.
‘Not true’
Last week, the six medical practitioners—two doctors, a nurse and three registered midwives—filed a P15-million damage suit against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her former defense chief, two former military chiefs and six incumbent military and police officials for physical and psychological torture.
When asked for comment, Pizarro said: “That’s not true because nothing like that happened to me.”
She said she turned her back on the armed rebellion because she had experienced sexual harassment in an NPA camp in Quezon province and had witnessed other harassment instances that were not acted upon.
“They did not respect women even if they say men and women are equal,” Pizarro said.
“I was molested. I was groped when I was sleeping,” she said, adding that she screamed and tried to grab her gun but could not lift it.
She said her molester, a vice squad leader, was merely demoted to being a regular guerrilla.
‘It’s better here’
Pizarro said she and her four colleagues had chosen to stay in Camp Capinpin out of their own volition.
She denied that they were being forced by soldiers to stay.
“That’s not true because wherever we go it’s OK. For us, we’re secured. It’s better that we’re here. If we’re outside the camp, it would be more dangerous because of our admission, our telling the truth,” she said.
Pizarro said she would not feel safe outside the camp where her purported former comrades in the rebel movement would be able to get to her. She said some of them had managed to communicate with her, urging her to escape.
“I told them it’s better to live normally than hide all your life. I want to live together with my family,” she said.
