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Manila court acquits Reina Mae Nasino, 2 others due to insufficient evidence

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Activist Reina Mae Nasino (R) places a candle on the grave of her daughter River at the Manila North Cemetery on December 23, 2022 a day after being released on bail. ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/07/27/20221223-nasino-reina-mae-river-grave-aa-1.jpg"/><figcaption>Activist Reina Mae Nasino (R) places a candle on the grave of her daughter River at the Manila North Cemetery on December 23, 2022 a day after being released on bail. <em>ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — A Manila court has acquitted an activist who lost her baby while undergoing trial, in a case that highlighted concerns over the plight of pregnant women under detention.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/07/27/20230727-nasino.jpg" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/07/27/20230727-nasino.jpg"/></figure></div><p>In a resolution dated July 17, 2023, Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 47 Judge John Benedict Medina acquitted Reina Mae Nasino and her two companions, Ram Carlo Bautista and Alma Moran, of illegal possession of firearms and explosives due to “insufficiency of evidence.”</p><p>Nasino was pregnant when she and her companions were arrested in November 2019. She gave birth while under detention. </p><p>Her baby, named River, died after being separated from her mother.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/10/09/20/detained-mothers-baby-dies-before-given-a-chance-to-reunite">Detained mother&#x27;s baby dies before given a chance to reunite</a></li></ul><p>In acquitting the three, the court reconsidered its earlier ruling which dismissed their demurrer to evidence, essentially a motion to dismiss due to lack of prosecution evidence.</p><p>The court cited the conflicting testimonies of witnesses and the failure of the prosecution to present the seized items in court.</p><p>The prosecution presented three witnesses — 2 cops and the barangay or village chairwoman.</p><p>But their statements differed as to where the firearms, ammunitions and explosives were supposedly found — in the 2 rooms at the third floor according to the cops; at the second floor for the chairwoman.</p><p>The chairwoman also had varying statements on whether she knows the three arrested activists.</p><p>&quot;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,” the resolution said.</p><p>“These inconsistencies on the material details of their discovery are so striking that this Court ought not to have ignored or brushed aside. They are contradictions that not only undermine all efforts of the Prosecution to reconstruct the event at hand, but altogether erode the evidentiary value of the prosecution evidence,” it added.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/07/27/manila-court.jpg" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/07/27/manila-court.jpg"/></figure></div><p>A crucial omission noted by the court is the prosecution’s failure to present the main witness — the police officer who seized and marked the firearms, ammunitions and explosives.</p><p>“He is the best witness who could relate the story as to circumstances leading to the discovery of the seized evidence, its markings and authenticities, and the arrest of all of the accused from whom the items were recovered,” the court explained.</p><p>And instead of presenting the recovered items as evidence, the prosecution submitted only photographs, which the court rejected.</p><p>“The weight of existence of the object evidence is very crucial for in the absence of which, it deprives the trial court and the parties access to it as evidence. For mere photographs might not fill in fully the evidentiary need of the Prosecution. Concededly, there is no evidence to speak of being the core of the offenses charged,” it said.</p><p>The same court, in December last year, allowed Nasino and her two companions to post bail because the evidence against them were not strong.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/22/22/activist-reina-mae-nasino-released-on-bail">Activist Reina Mae Nasino released on bail</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/13/22/court-grants-bail-to-baby-rivers-mother-2-other-detainees">Court grants bail to Baby River’s mother, 2 other detainees</a></li></ul><p>The Court of Appeals had quashed the search warrants used against them, saying there was no probable cause to issue the search warrants because at least three different addresses were used in the application for search warrants, and the issuing judge did not probe the police applicant and witnesses, which could have avoided the erroneous address.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/05/22/ca-voids-search-warrants-vs-baby-rivers-mother-2-others">CA voids search warrants vs Baby River’s mother, 2 others</a></li></ul><p>The Manila court took note of the CA ruling but chose to defer to the CA or the Supreme Court on the issue since no certificate of finality had yet been submitted, and there was no order halting the continuation of the trial.</p><p>The case also reached the Supreme Court when Nasino, along with other political detainees, asked for their release at the height of the pandemic.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/08/20/seeking-compassion-detainees-ask-sc-for-temporary-release-amid-covid-19-threat">Seeking compassion, detainees ask SC for temporary release amid COVID-19 threat</a></li></ul><p>That petition was however denied, with the high court delegating the decision to release the persons deprived of liberty (PDL) to trial courts.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/10/20/sc-lets-trial-courts-decide-on-plea-for-release-of-22-inmates-during-pandemic">SC lets trial courts decide on plea for release of 22 inmates during pandemic</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/12/20/after-4-months-and-in-300-pages-sc-says-it-couldnt-act-on-prisoners-plea-for-release-during-pandemic">After 4 months and in 300 pages, SC says it couldn&#x27;t act on prisoners’ plea for release during pandemic</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/24/20/di-nagpabaya-peralta-says-sc-tried-its-best-in-baby-river-case">‘Di nagpabaya’: Peralta says SC &#x27;tried its best&#x27; in baby River case</a></li></ul><p>Nasino’s acquittal came almost 4 years since her arrest on November 5, 2019, and almost three years after Baby River was laid to rest on October 16, 2020.</p><p>Just before River’s tomb was sealed, she made this promise to her deceased baby: &quot;Lalaya ako nang mas matatag.&quot;</p><p>RELATED VIDEO</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2390153" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div> </div>

A Manila court has acquitted Reina Mae Nasino, in a case that highlighted concerns over the plight of pregnant women under detention.

Manila court acquits Reina Mae Nasino, 2 others due to insufficient evidence

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Manila court acquits Reina Mae Nasino, 2 others due to insufficient evidence

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 27, 2023 07:37 PM PHT

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Manila RTC Branch 47

Manila Regional Trial Court

Reina Mae Nasino

Baby River

acquitted

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