MANILA, Philippines ? (UPDATE 3) The 43 detained health workers accused of being communist insurgents will remain in jail after the Court of Appeals dismissed the petition for habeas corpus filed by their relatives.

In a 20-page decision by the Court of Appeals Special Division, it said that whatever irregularities present in the arrest of the 43 were corrected by the subsequent filing of criminal charges against the detainees in Camp Capinpin.

?Indeed, it has been held in a long line of cases that even if the detention is at its inception illegal, it may, by reason of some supervening event, be no longer illegal at the time of the filing of the application,? the appeals court said through Senior Associate Justice Portia Aliño-Hormachuelos.

The appeals court also said that there was a commitment order against the 43 issued by the Morong regional trial court Branch 78 through Acting Presiding Judge Amorfina Cerrado-Cezar last February 12 or a day after they were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

In the commitment order, the Morong court directed the jail warden of Camp Capinpin to take custody of the 43 following the Rules of Criminal Procedure.

?Once a person is duly charged in court, he may no longer question his detention through a petition for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be allowed after the party sought to be released had been charged before any court,? the appeals court said.

?Having established that the detainees? continued imprisonment is by virtue of a valid court process, we find it unnecessary to dwell on the other issues raised by the petitioners,? the appeals court said.

At the same time, in the motion seeking the transfer of the 43 from Camp Capinpin to Camp Crame, the appeals court said that they would leave this to the Morong RTC to decide.

A division of five was created by the Court of Appeals second division after it failed to reach a unanimous vote.

Members of the original division assigned to the case ? Associate Justices Normandie Pizarro and Francisco Acosta ?stood pat on their decision favoring the 43 health workers.

Associate Justices Magdangal De Leon and Sesinando Villon concurred with Justice Hormachuelos in dismissing the case.

The 43 health workers were arrested last February 6 at a rest house in Morong, Rizal while undergoing community health training.

The military accused the 43 of undergoing training for making explosives, which they claimed were seized during the arrest.

But relatives of the 43 countered that the military violated the rights of the health workers by torturing and harassing them to force an admission that they were members of the communist party.

Various organizations as well as international human rights groups joined the call in condemning the military in the arrest and continued detention of the 43 health workers.

In their dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Normandie Pizarro and Associate Justice Francisco Acosta cited the invalidity of the search warrants used by the military during the raid.

Both justices noted that the search warrant bore the name of a certain Mario Condes as owner of the property to be searched but the military entered and searched the premises owned by Dr. Melecia Velmonte.

They said the search warrant was too broad and did not specify the exact location of the area to be searched as required under Article III of the Constitution . The search warrant only indicated "Brgy. Maybangcal, Morong Rizal."

Pizarro said that since the search warrant was invalid, and the search and arrests were unlawful, the inquest proceedings were void.

The two justices also dismissed the filing of the case five days after the arrest as merely ?curative? and was only meant to render the habeas corpus petition.

?This is a matter I cannot simply tolerate,? Pizarro.

?Allowing curative information to justify illegal searches, arrests and detentions would definitely make every habeas corpus proceeding an exercise in futility, similar to a salt that had lost its taste. This is absolutely repugnant to the basic and primordial constitutional right to due process of law,? Acosta said.

He said with the majority decision dismissing the habeas corpus and remanding the case to the Morong Regional Trial Court ?would give the impression that this court is washing its hands on a matter which necessitates an extremely urgent resolution and attention.?

?There being no legal reason to detain the 43 detainees, who will soon be mourning their one month detention, their immediate release should be effected. To do so is not just our legal duty but our high moral obligation as magistrates,? Pizarro said.