MANILA, Philippines – The provincial prosecutor of Cavite ordered the release of nine activists charged by police with illegal possession of firearms in a bid to keep them in jail.

Emmanuel Velasco, Cavite prosecutor, said police failed to prove that the firearms allegedly seized from the nine were unlicensed.

“Prosecution has the burden of proving beyond reasonable doubt the lack of license...,” Velasco said in his order Tuesday.

“It seems clear that it was the prosecution’s duty not merely to allege the negative fact but to prove it.”

Police said illegal possession of firearms charges were filed because rebellion was tough to prove.

“We have learned our lesson. Rebellion is really difficult to prove,” said Senior Supt. Wilfredo Reyes, head of the police Regional Special Operations Group [RSOG] in the Calabarzon region.

Reyes was referring to a police failure to prove rebellion charges against five farmer leaders who were arrested in Tagaytay City, kept in jail for more than two years and ordered released by a court that ruled that there was no basis to detain them.

They were collectively known as the “Tagaytay 5.”

The filing of illegal possession of firearms charges was the same tactic used by authorities during martial law to justify the prolonged detention of suspected communist leaders. Illegal possession of firearms was then a non-bailable offense.

The nine activists were reported missing on Sunday until police admitted they held the nine at Camp Vicente Lim, the regional headquarters of the Calabarzon police.

Six of the nine – Renato Alvarez, 63; Franco Romeroso, 27; Felip Nardo, 24; Bernardo Derain, 36; Mario Joson, 55; and Jommel Igana, 19 – are detained at the custodial jail of the camp where the Tagaytay 5 were locked up for two years and four months.

The women – Yolanda Caraig, 48; Neshley Cresino, 27; and Janice Javier, 26 – are being held at the office of the RSOG-Calabarzon.

Reyes said firearms, such as .45 cal. and 9 mm pistols, were recovered from the nine.

Reyes said he is confident that the nine are members of the New People’s Army since communist documents were found in their laptops and flash discs.

Axel Pinpin, a member of the Tagaytay 5 and research and information officer of the Kalipunan ng mga Magsasaka sa Kabite (Kamagsasaka-Ka), reiterated that five of the nine are members of his group and three are members of the Samahan ng mga Magbubukid sa Batangas (Sambat).

He said Alvarez is Kamagsasaka-Ka president while Yolanda Caraig, Neshley Cresino, Franco Romeroso, and Felip Nardo are the group’s organizers.

Pinpin said the firearms that police claimed were recovered from the nine were most likely planted.

“Same with what they did to us,” he said.