In a press conference yesterday, health and human rights organizations condemned the military's abduction of 43 medical practitioners and health workers in Rizal and call for their immediate surfacing and release.

The health workers were participating in a First Responders Training, sponsored by the Community Medicine Foundation, Inc. (COMMED) and Council for Health and Development (CHD) when they were illegally arrested by elements of the military and police in Rizal last February 6, 2010. As of this news report, the military has not allowed any of the relatives of the victims to see anyone of them. For details and partial names of those illegally arrested: http://karapatan.org/node/334

The Tondo Medical Center's nurses, midwives and nursing aides are protesting understaffing as one of the worst problems they encounter at work. This abuse and rights violation has saddled the hospital workers for three years already. From regular eight-hour shifts, it has gotten worse to 12- up to 24-hour shifts without rest.

When their complaints went unheeded, the staff wore red ribbons on their uniforms. They petitioned Undersecretary Elmer Punzalan at the Department of Health last December 2009 and they are hoping that a solution on understaffing is on the offing this month. But two weeks into the month, Punzalan has yet to visit the hospital. The union has then decided to hold another picket in front of the hospital to pressure the management to solve the problem. Click for related podcast.