Student leader and peasant organizer Amanda Echanis has been released from detention after five years following her acquittal by the Tuguegarao City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10 on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
In a decision dated December 27, 2025 and made public on January 14, 2026, Judge Racquel Reyes-Aglaua ruled that the prosecution failed to prove Echanis’ guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Echanis was arrested in the early hours of December 2, 2020, in Baggao, Cagayan, months after the killing of her father, peasant leader and peace consultant Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis.
Zoe Caballero, legal counsel for Echanis, said the court’s acquittal highlighted serious procedural lapses in the police operation that led to her arrest. The court ruled that the search warrant was illegally executed, noting that the lawful occupant was not present, there was a three-hour delay before the search, and evidence could have been planted.
Police failed to document the search properly and the prosecution could not prove Echanis had possession of the alleged firearms and explosives.
In a related development, the Court of Appeals recognized activist James Jazmines as a victim of enforced disappearance and granted his wife, Cora Jazmines, the writs of Amparo and Habeas Data that she requested in 2024.
The Writ of Amparo is a legal protection issued when a person’s life, liberty, or security is violated or threatened, often in cases of enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings.
The Court’s 12th division ruled that Cora provided substantial evidence proving her husband’s disappearance fits the legal definition of enforced disappearance.
The ruling, dated October 27, 2025, and made public also on January 14, 2026, held Armed Forces Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. and former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Marbil responsible for failing to act with “extraordinary diligence” in investigating Jazmines’ disappearance on August 24, 2023, in Tabaco City, Albay.
The Court of Appeals found Brawner and Marbil “responsible and accountable” for Jazmines’ abduction on August 24, 2023.
Desparacidos, an organization of families of enforced disappearance victims, said the granting of protective writs confirms State accountability. Its chairperson, JL Burgos, stressed that authorities must now locate James Jazmines, investigate his disappearance, and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Photo © Raffy Lerma