IBALOI activist Rachel Mariano has been acquitted after years in an Ifugao jail.
In a seven-page decision by Judge Mario Anacleto Bañez of the Ilocos Sur RTC Branch 25, charges of murder and frustrated murder filed by the 81st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army have been dropped against Mariano.
Cordillera Human Rights Alliance and the Cordillera Peoples Alliance welcomed the acquittal of Mariano, saying the lies peddled by the state forces against activists and development workers who serve the marginalized and neglected indigenous communities are baseless and are only meant to strike fear, intimidate and quell our people’s longing for real change.
Both groups assert the charges against Mariano were trumped up.
“Even as we celebrate today’s victory, we continue to demand the dropping of all similarly baseless trumped-up charges against Rachel Mariano and four other women human rights concocted by the 81st IBPA,” the joint statement said.
The groups said Mariano’s courage and resilience is commendable as she stood and spoke in behalf of all the victims of trumped-up charges in the region through the Women Resist Tyranny campaign.
“She voluntarily and bravely went to the courts and submitted herself to detention to face the challenges of this justice system,” the statement added.