MANILA, Philippines (Updated 8:08 p.m) — Reina Mae Nasino and two of her fellow activists were were ordered released Thursday after three years of detention during which she delivered a baby who later died after being separated from her.
Nasino and Alma Moran were able to walk free Thursday evening while the release of Ram Carlo Bautista is still being processed.
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The three were made to pay a surety bond worth P282,000, which represents 20% of the total bail bond they were ordered to pay. Unlike a bail bond, a surety bond cannot be returned to the accused if the case against them is dismissed.
The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 47 earlier asked Nasino and Moran to pay P420,000 each for bail, while Bautista was asked to pay P570,000 — amounts which they said were “enormous” and rendered their access to temporary freedom “practically nugatory.”
READ: Nasino’s kin struggle to raise P420,000 bail
The same court has said that the evidence against the three activists is weak, while the Court of Appeals has ruled to exclude evidence allegedly seized from them when it voided the search warrant used to raid their residences.
Nasino, Moran and Bautista were arrested in Tondo, Manila in November 2019, and were charged with illegal possession of firearms, and of explosives.
Nasino was then pregnant with River, whom she delivered in detention, but the baby died after their separation. The death of Baby River and the subsequent burial where Nasino was put in cuffs the entire time sparked condemnation from the public.
This is a developing story
— Xave Gregorio