Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 27) — Activist Reina Mae Nasino and her two companions have been acquitted of all criminal cases of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, according to court documents released by the National Union of People’s Lawyers on Thursday.
Ram Carlo Bautista and Alma Moran Estrada, Nacino’s fellow activists, were also cleared by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 47 after it granted their motion to reconsider the cases for lack of evidence, the documents showed.
“The Court finds that the unmistakable conflicting testimonies of the prosecution witnesses generate serious doubt as to whether the firearms with ammunitions and explosives were really found in the rooms of the accused as they were not identified with sufficient particularity,” it said in its resolution dated July 17.
The trio were arrested on Nov. 5, 2019 for alleged illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
In 2022, the Court of Appeals nullified the search warrants which were used to arrest Nasino, Bautista, and Estrada as these did not meet the standards of a valid warrant, rendering the evidence procured as inadmissible.
They were released after posting bail in late December 2022.
Nasino was one month pregnant when she was arrested. She gave birth to her daughter River Nasino on July 1, 2020 while in detention.
While separated from her detained mother, three-month-old River died of acute respiratory distress syndrome on Oct. 9, 2020.
