At baby River’s burial, Nasino stiffens her resolve: ‘Once I’m free…we’ll all be much stronger’

MANILA, Philippines – A famous quote said, “no parent should bury a child.” In the case of political detainee Reina Mae Nasino, this proves true, as Kapatid, a human rights group, said the police had “hijacked every minute” of baby River’s burial.

Early Friday morning, more than 20 police already surrounded La Funeraria Rey in Pandacan, Manila where the wake of baby River was held for almost a week.

Aside from the on-foot police officers, a truck from the SWAT team was also on standby and a firetruck. Only family members were allowed to enter inside.

SWAT members are also stationed outside ahead of baby River's burial @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/rmef4A04kd

— tetch torres-tupas (@T2TupasINQ) October 16, 2020

A commotion ensued after Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim was barred from entering the funeral home. Lim is a co-petitioner of Marites, Reina Lim’s mother in the case before the Supreme Court that sought the temporary release of COVID-19 high-risk political detainees.

WATCH: Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim initially was initially barred from entering the funeral home. She was eventually allowed inside. Video from Kapatid pic.twitter.com/Ks2XAbRNV8

— tetch torres-tupas (@T2TupasINQ) October 16, 2020

“They (BJMP and police) made a spectacle of themselves. The photos and videos don’t lie. They should be ashamed of what they did because they have no right to intervene,” Lim said.

“Most especially, they have no right to take the remains away from the family. That act was disrespectful. All we asked for is 3 hours for Reina Mae Nasino to grieve with peace, free from distress. But they disrespected the right of the family to mourn,” she added.

Kapatid said the hearse carrying baby River sped away, leaving the family and supporters outside the funeral home.

The original plan was for the hearse to pass by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, where they were supposed to plead for Nasino’s temporary freedom before going to the North Cemetery, River Emmanuel’s final resting place.

However, the hearse went straight to the cemetery. Upon the arrival of Nasino, her lawyers and her mother, Marites begged the police and jail officers to remove her handcuffs. Even the priest officiating the Mass also requested her escorts to remove the handcuffs so she can hug the coffin for the last time.

LOOK: The hearse carrying Baby River at the Manila North Cemetery as police lines up outside. @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/JLS3kd1Fh3

— tetch torres-tupas (@T2TupasINQ) October 16, 2020

WATCH: Lawyers and Marites, mother of Reina Mae appeals to remove her handcuff so she can hug her daughter. @inquirerdotnet Video from Kapatid pic.twitter.com/1bvYnVFs2D

— tetch torres-tupas (@T2TupasINQ) October 16, 2020

The jail escorts did not budge.

Nasino could not hug her child. She made her final goodbye by touching the glass of baby River’s coffin. She could not even wipe her tears away being heavily clothed in PPE, rubber gloves aside from being handcuffed.

“Lalaya ako nang mas matatag. Lalaya kami nang mas matatag. Hindi tayo nag-iisa, panandalian yung pagdadalamhati natin pero babangon tayo,” she said.

(Once I am free, I will be much stronger. We will all be much stronger once we are released. We are not alone. Our grief is temporary, but we will survive this.)

WATCH: Reina Mae Nasino bids goodbye to her three month old child. @inquirerdotnet Video from Kapatid pic.twitter.com/uSWbq9vfWT

— tetch torres-tupas (@T2TupasINQ) October 16, 2020

Marites Asis, the baby’s grandmother, said: Wala akong kinakalaban. Sobra na kayo. Hindi porke’t mahirap lang kami at walang malaking pangalan ( I am not fighting anyone. This is too much just because we are poor and not of big names.)

This is not the first time that a detainee has been given a furlough. Other prominent former government officials were allowed to attend a daughter’s wedding despite facing multiple murder charges, spent Christmas at home despite facing a case for plunder and graft, visited mother on her birthday despite facing a plunder case and attended a daughter’s graduation.

Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said the security arrangement is “not overkill.”

Jail Chief Inspector Xavier Solda, the spokesperson for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, said 43 jail and police officers had been deployed “considering the expanse of the area.”

He said those were deployed came from different jail units and “were deployed in compliance with the orders of the court to secure PDL (person deprived of liberty) Nasino and to ensure that there would be no untoward incidents.”

Nasino, an urban poor organizer, was arrested in November last year in a one-time big-time joint police operation in Manila and Cebu against suspected members of the communist group pursuant to a search warrant issued by a Quezon City judge. Nasino was one-month pregnant when she was arrested.

Together with 21 other elderly and sickly inmates, she filed a petition before the Supreme Court asking for their immediate release because they are most at risk of getting COVID-19.

In July, the high court announced that the petition is considered a petition for bail and pass the buck to the lower courts to act on the bid for temporary release. However, a copy of the petition was only made available to the parties in the same week that baby River died last week.

Meanwhile, the baby was forcibly separated from her mother on Aug. 13 despite pleas that it is not healthy to separate a breastfeeding infant from her mother. A month later, baby River started getting sick. She was transferred to the Philippine General Hospital from Manila Medical Center after she had shown signs of COVID-19. She tested negative but her lungs failed and stopped responding to treatments.

Last October 9, baby River’s doctor advised her family to give the mother the chance to see her baby alive for the last time. An urgent motion was filed. On that same day, the baby died at exactly 8:50 pm.

The urgent motion was amended to ask the court to allow the mother to grieve for her daughter’s death properly. After a hearing on Tuesday, she was given three straight days up to the burial.

However, the court amended the order on Wednesday after the BJMP sent a letter informing the court that it lacked the human resources to escort Nasino.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines through its national president Atty. Domingo Egon Cayosa asked: Why can’t our justice system safeguard an innocent child’s needs and rights to breastfeeding and a better chance to survive? Why don’t our jails have adequate facilities to address the needs and rights of children and women detainees duly recognized by domestic and international law? Why does it take so long to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights? Aren’t there double standards when “bigger” detainees are allowed similar, even greater privileges? Can we not have justice with compassion?

“Babies have rights and we have duties to nurture them. Let our humanity rise above our personal comforts or the privileges of power,” Cayosa said. [ac]