Arroyo seeks dismissal of ‘Morong 43’ damage suit
By Julie M. Aurelio, Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 19, 2012

  Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has asked a Quezon City court to dismiss the P15-million damage suit filed against her by health workers who were arrested by the military during her term and who were dubbed the “Morong 43.”

Citing the complainants’ failure to state a cause of action for the civil suit filed in April 2011, the now Pampanga lawmaker pointed out her name was not even on any of the plaintiffs’ affidavits.

No allegation of bad faith “(It) does not contain any allegation of bad faith, malice or gross negligence on the part of defendant, in order to create at least any reasonable connection between defendant’s being president and the damage allegedly suffered by the plaintiffs, as to make defendant accountable for the damage purportedly afflicted,” Arroyo said in her motion to dismiss filed late last year in the court of QC Judge Ma. Luisa Q. Padilla.

Most of the 43 health workers sued Arroyo and 10 other government officials for their alleged illegal detention on suspicion of being communist rebels. They were freed after President Benigno Aquino III assumed office.

In her eight-page motion to dismiss, Arroyo through her lawyers said the plaintiffs could not just sue her based on her past position as president or her alleged failure to stop any supposed abuses.

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