MANILA, Philippines ? (UPDATE 2) The relatives of 43 doctors and health workers detained by the military supposedly because of their links with the communist National People's Army are filing a petition for habeas corpus before the Supreme Court on Monday, one of the relatives said.

The 43 were arrested in a rest house in Morong, Rizal owned by a prominent Manila doctor while they were taking part in a health training seminar, according to seminar organizers. They were taken into custody by elements of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police.

``We will file a case for them (the authorities) to produce and release our relatives, '' Roneo S. Clanor, husband of Dr Merry Clanor, one of those taken into custody, said on Sunday at a press conference in Quezon City.

Officers of the non-government organization Council for Health and Development and Community Medicine Development Foundation, the seminar organizers, denied the military allegations that the participants were making explosives.

``CHD denies the claim of the military that the participants were undergoing bomb-making training. In truth, the participants were holding [training] to develop their capacities in providing health care services to the poorest of the poor,'' CHD executive director Eleanor A. Jara said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Geneve ?Beng? Rivera, chairperson of Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) said aside from writ of habeas corpus, they will also file writ of amparo with the Supreme Court.

"We've stayed here outside Camp Capinpin (the military camp in Tanay, Rizal where the 43 are detained) and they have not shown us any sign that they are okay," she worried.

She also said they lost contact with the 43 after the military confiscated all the mobile phones.

The 43, who are members of the Community Health Development that is under HEAD, were on a Luzon-wide health training seminar when around 300 members of the state forces arrested them in a raid at a rest house owned by Dr. Melecia Velmonte.

"The search warrant was very vague. It should have stated the name and address of Dr. Velmonte, because she is the owner of the house," Rivera said.

But the military in an earlier statement said the search warrant was against a certain Mario Condes of Barangay Maybangcal, Morong.

Velmonte is a consultant at the Philippine General Hospital and professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine.

"All evidence they (military) claimed they recovered are inadmissible because the warrant and the arrest were flawed," added Rivera.

But the military maintained that the arrest was legal.

"We cannot present the 43 because it might spoil the ongoing investigation," said Lt. Celeste Frank Sayson, chief of the Public Affairs Office of the Army's 2nd Infantry Division.

"It?s their right if they want to file charges but we have evidence to support their connection to the underground (movement). As our commander said, we are 101 percent sure (they are members of the NPA)," Sayson added, quoting Maj. Gen. Jorge Segovia, commander of the Army's 2nd ID.

On the other hand, militant groups warned about what they called as "wholesale arrests and fabricated charges" after the arrest of the 43 medical volunteers, in line with the government?s final phase in its counterinsurgency program to meet President Macapagal-Arroyo's June deadline to crush communist rebels.

The arrest of the 43 health workers came a week after National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales issued a legal offensive order to crush the insurgency before the end of President Arroyo?s term

"We expect more of that, as part of Arroyo's agenda to cripple the electoral and mass campaign of the progressive party-list and militant groups," said Gerry Corpuz, information officer of the militant Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya, National Forces of the Fishers? Movement of the Philippines).

Ms Arroyo has given the military up to June, the end of her term, to end the insurgency.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has maintained that it is on track to meet the deadline.

Although none of the 43 arrested is a member of the fisher folk alliance Pamalakaya, Corpuz said in a text message, "We are very much concerned about these people because these doctors and health workers provide the 24/7 free medical services and medicines to the fishers."

On Saturday, around 300 state forces raided the home of Velmonte, where 43 persons were conducting a health training seminar.

The military also claimed to have recovered several pieces of ammunition and campaign materials of the Bayan Muna Party-List group from the suspects.

Pamalakaya chairperson Fernando Hicap said in a statement that the state forces "agreed to pursue and intensify the fabrication of trumped-up charges against militant organizations, which the military branded as front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA."

Hicap said they were appealing to the Commission on Human Rights to lead a speedy investigation into the arrest of the health workers.

In Los Baños, Laguna, HEAD condemned on Sunday the arrest of the 43 community health workers and doctors.

The group denounced the raid, tagging it as an illegal operation of the Southern Luzon Command.

In a statement, HEAD claimed that ?Velmonte is a renowned and respected infectious disease specialist and her farmhouse is the regular venue of health trainings, with participants coming from both the communities and the academe.?

It added that the arrested health workers have been working as volunteers serving different poor communities, while the doctors have been working for different non-government organizations.

The group said this was part of the security forces? efforts to sow disorder and prompt chaos that could be used to impose martial law.

HEAD said it would hold the Arroyo administration fully accountable for the arrest of their colleagues and for the harm that could befall them.