3 activists acquitted, including mom who lost baby ‘River’

AMOTHER’S GRIEF The police took a lot of flak at the funeral of Baby River in October 2020
after they refused to remove the handcuffs of her mother, detained activist ReinaMae Nasino
(in PPE suit) depriving her of a chance to embrace her child for the last time.—MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

After four years of trial, a Manila court has acquitted three activists, including Reina Mae Nasino, who lost her 3-month-old daughter while in detention on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

In a 15-page resolution, presiding Judge John Benedict Medina of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 47 granted the motion for reconsideration filed by the three activists regarding the junking of their demurrer to evidence.

According to Medina, the prosecution’s evidence against Nasino and her coaccused was “flawed and deficient.” He also cited the “conflicting testimonies” of prosecution witnesses which “generate serious doubt” [as to] whether firearms with ammunition and explosives were actually found in the rooms of the accused.

“Hence, it is not sufficient to overcome their presumption of innocence as the proof required to establish their guilt must be beyond reasonable doubt,” Medina said in his resolution.

In November 2019, Nasino, Alma Moran and Ram Carlo Bautista were arrested by the police during a raid on the Bayan office in Tondo, Manila, and charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Pleading for River

At that time, Nasino was pregnant and she later gave birth to a baby girl, River, while in detention.

She then went to court to ask that she and her child be allowed to remain in the hospital where she had given birth or a nursery to be set up at the Manila City Jail where she was being held.

But the court rejected her plea, citing the jail’s lack of resources to accommodate her and her baby. River was afterward turned over to Nasino’s mother but at the age of 2 months, she developed pneumonia. Nasino again went to court to ask if she could visit her child in the hospital but River died before the court could act on her request.

Human rights issue

Although Nasino was allowed to go to the funeral, she was not even allowed to embrace her baby as the police and jail guards escorting her refused to remove her handcuffs. Her plight sparked public outrage with the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemning the way she was treated, saying the police were in violation of Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

According to the provision, “the baby’s best interest shall be the primary consideration in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, administrative authorities, legislative bodies, or courts of law.”

“The treatment of Reina Mae Nasino and her Baby River from the state has violated international standards of treatment of prisoners and children,” the ICHRP British Columbia, Canada chapter also commented.

In December 2022, Nasino, Moran and Bautista were released from jail after the court allowed them to post bail.

In a TV interview that same month, Nasino expressed sadness over being deprived of the chance to be with River in her last moments.

“No mother should be separated from her child and that should never happen again. I am not the only one who experienced it. Many mothers have also experienced that, being illegally arrested and being taken away from their child,” she said.

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