Tuguegarao RTC Judge Racquel C. Reyes-Aglaua found Echanis not guilty of the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives due to the failure of the prosecution to establish all essential elements of the offenses.
MANILA – The State’s lies cannot last forever.
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas Chairperson Danilo Ramos said this after the Tuguegarao Regional Trial Court Branch 10 acquitted poet, writer and peasant organizer Amanda Echanis of illegal possession of firearms and explosives charges on Jan. 14, Wednesday.
Ramos said that Echanis is innocent. He stressed that her imprisonment was to punish her for organizing farmers and women.
Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of human rights group Karapatan, said that her acquittal is a “resounding indictment of the military and police’s campaign of political repression and fabrication of charges, and evidence.”
No guilt beyond reasonable doubt
Tuguegarao RTC Judge Racquel C. Reyes-Aglaua found Echanis not guilty of the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives due to the failure of the prosecution to establish all essential elements of the offenses.
“Mere speculations and probabilities cannot substitute for the quantum of proof required in criminal cases – proof beyond reasonable doubt – and the evidence presented did not overturn the accused’s constitutional presumption of innocence,” Reyes-Aglaua said in her decision dated Dec. 27, 2025.
The court observed that while Echanis occupied Room 2 of the residence where she was arrested, the supposed weapons were allegedly discovered in Room 3. The court added that no prosecution witness could place the items in the accused’s actual possession at any point.
It also highlighted an unrebutted account that a “man in red shorts” had brought the sack containing the items into the house over objections and placed it by Room 3, a room occupied not by Echanis.
The court also found no evidence of animus possidendi (or the intent to possess). It concluded that the prosecution failed to show the accused exercised exclusive control or constructive possession over the items.
“The prosecution was required to prove that the accused had exercised possession or exclusive control over the items. However, given the presence of the occupants in the house, and considering the place where the contraband was allegedly found, the prosecution failed to meet this evidentiary threshold,” Reyes-Aglaua said.
Echanis was arrested in the early morning of Dec. 2, 2020 when combined police and military forces conducted a series of raids in Baggao, Cagayan.
The raid initially started in the house of peasant leader Isabelo “Buting Adviento of Danggayan Dagiti Mannalo ti Cagayan Valley. The latter is a regional chapter of peasant organization Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas. Adviento was not at his residence when the raid happened.
Echanis reportedly lived three houses away from Abviento’s. The state forces that raided the house where Echanis was arrested claimed that they found firearms and explosives during the raids and charged her with illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and explosives which is a non-bailable offense.
Amanda Echanis reunited with her son. (Photo by Noni Abao)
Five years
During her five-year detention, Echanis continued her art and her studies.
She is enrolled at the University of the Philippines Diliman, taking up Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing. Last year, Amanda won in the University Student Council elections, making her the first councilor elected while in jail.
In 2024, Echanis also became a fellow at the Palihang Rogelio Sicat, an annual national workshop on creative writing using Filipino and various languages in the Philippines. This was also the first time in the history of the workshop to have a political prisoner as participant.
In 2023, she won the first Southeast Asian Translation Mentorship 2023-2024.
Prior to her arrest, she published a book titled Tatlong Paslit, a collection of memoirs of children confronting various struggles and different political contexts. She also wrote a play about the life of the late urban poor leader Carmen Deunida titled Nanay Mameng in 2015. She also published another book titled Binhi ng Paglaya.
Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) welcomed the acquittal of Amanda. “For more than five years she was detained on manufactured charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Her case confirms what artists, activists, and other vocal critics of the state have long known: in today’s Philippines, those who speak out are harassed, criminalized, and imprisoned, while the powerful walk free,” CAP said in a statement.
The group also noted how Echanis was able to continue to work despite her detention. “She wrote, studied, raised her son, and continued her artistic and intellectual work, publishing a volume of poetry and deepening her practice despite harsh conditions meant to break her spirit. This creative persistence is more than personal resilience; it is proof that art refuses silence. In the darkest circumstances, imagination becomes resistance: a way of asserting community, memory, and self when the state attempts to erase all three.”
Re-examine
Her legal counsel Sentro Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (Sentra) welcomed her acquittal calling it a “long-overdue affirmation of her innocence after five years of detention based on fabricated and politically motivated charges.”
The group said that the ruling confirms claims that evidence against her wereplanted and that her detention violated due process.
Amanda Echanis (in green and blue top) with lawyers, supporters and a relative. (Photo from Sentra Facebook page)
While recognizing the decision as a step toward justice, Sentra stressed the need for accountability for those responsible for her wrongful prosecution. “We call on authorities to ensure that similar cases are re-examined with urgency, that any officials responsible for abuse of power are held accountable, and that policies enabling the weaponization of the justice system against human rights defenders are dismantled.”
Palabay said that Echanis “should never have spent a single day in jail, much less five years robbed from her and her child.”
“Those who ordered her arrest, planted evidence, lied in court, and prolonged her detention must be held criminally and administratively liable. Without accountability, these abuses will continue,” Palabay added.
Women’s group Gabriela said that her story is a testament to the courage of young activists who choose the path less traveled—leaving the comforts of the city to live among and serve peasant communities in the countryside.
“We hail her release as a victory, but our joy is tempered by the grief for Jerlyn Doydora and the urgent demand for Chantal’s freedom from the military. Their lives prove that the state’s primary targets are the youth who refuse to be silent—those who leave behind personal comfort to defend indigenous lands against destructive mining and energy projects,” Gabriela said in a statement.
Echanis was a woman peasant organizer of Amihan, a federation of women peasants, at the time of her arrest. She is also the daughter of veteran activist Linda Lacaba-Echanis and National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace consultant Randall Echanis who was tortured and killed in 2020. (DAA)
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