The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) lauded the decision of the Supreme Court (SC), affirming the ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA) voiding the search warrants that were used to arrest and charge three activists in Manila, including the then-pregnant Reina Nasino, whose baby died while she was in detention.

This was announced by the lawyers’ group claiming it as another victory for the three activists whose cases for illegal possession of firearms and explosives were earlier dismissed by the Manila regional trial court.

Arrested along with Nasino were Ram Carlo Bautista and Alma Moran.

The NUPL said the SC, in an 9 August 2023 resolution, ruled that the evidence obtained under these warrants is inadmissible.

It sustained the CA ruling which had reversed the Manila regional trial court’s denial of the motion to quash the search warrants.

The CA had ruled that the warrants lacked specificity in describing the place to be searched. These stated that the house to be searched belong to Bautista, but he only occupied one room in it.

It also said the addresses listed in the warrants belong to two different units, and this allowed law enforcers to abuse their discretion.

The NUPL said the SC cast doubt on the existence of probable cause in the application for the search warrants because of the inconsistent addresses provided by the police.

The group noted the lack of probing and exhaustive questions on the part of the judge during the application for the warrant, which “creates a doubt as to whether the applicant and his witnesses have personal knowledge of the surrounding circumstances justifying the issuance of search warrant,” the NUPL said.

Nasino’s plight, who gave birth while in detention, triggered public anger because she was not allowed to stay longer at the hospital with her baby after giving birth, or to let her baby stay with her in jail but be provided with natal care facilities.

The baby of Nasino, named River, died of pneumonia at the age of three months while away from her mother.