MANILA – After more than four years in detention, the Court of Appeals (CA) acquitted woman and child rights defender Ma. Salome “Sally” Ujano of rebellion.
In a March 23 decision, the CA said that the prosecution’s evidence failed to “establish with certainty” that Ujano participated in a rebellion. The Court noted that the incident involved around 60 combatants and that the witnesses, military personnel Alex Ayupan and Clodualdo Casanova, had not positively identified Ujano 17 years after the incident.
“One who has just survived a violent encounter and claims to have identified his assailants would reasonably be expected to promptly disclose their identities to investigators, execute a sworn statement, or, at the very least, inform the prosecuting authorities so that their names could be specifically reflected in the narration in the charging instrument. Yet none of these occurred,” the ruling stated.
Ujano was released from the Correctional Institute for Women on March 27. “Finally, truth and justice prevailed. Miracles do happen,” Ujano said in a statement.
“The Court of Appeals’ decision affirms what we have long known—the accusations against our mother were baseless,” her son Klaro Ujano said. “Today, goodness and love prevailed. Nanay Sally is finally home, and this victory is especially meaningful as Women’s Month comes to a close.”
Ujano has worked for more than four decades defending survivors of violence and advancing gender and child protection reforms. In 2023, she was recognized by UN Women-Philippines for her efforts in human rights advocacy. She was also instrumental in lobbying for key legislation, including the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.
Read: ‘Arrested development worker is a loving mother, persevering advocate’
Ujano was part of the Women’s Crisis Center for decades, serving as its executive director from 2000 to 2007. She also became the national coordinator of the Philippines Against Child Trafficking (PACT) in 2009, having established 50 chapters in the country under her leadership.
“To brand activists and civilians as ‘sinister terrorists’ without sufficient evidence endangers fundamental rights. This case shows how such claims collapse under judicial scrutiny,” PACT said.
The Ujano family thanked her lawyers, supporters, and others who were part of the Free Sally Ujano movement.
Klaro said in a statement that during her mother’s detention, the red-tagging continued. “This acquittal restores not only her freedom, but also our faith that truth and justice can still prevail.”
In 2022, Ujano’s family called for the Philippine government to revisit her state of health which deteriorated due to poor conditions inside the Philippine prisons.
Ujano’s doctor found several health conditions affecting the detained development worker, such as hypertension, hypertensive heart disease, dyslipidemia, chronic back pain because of thoracolumbar spondylosis, cholelithiasis, osteoarthritis, seborrheic keratosis.
Read**:** A year since her arrest, calls to free detained dev’t worker Sally Ujano continue
“Her discomfort in the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) and her multiple health concerns caused us to worry a lot about her,” Klaro said.
In 2024, more than 50 representatives of the Civil Society Coalition on the Convention on the Rights of the Child called for her release. (DAA)
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