ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Lawyers group deplores killing, arrest of children of solon, slain NDF consultant

Lawyers group deplores killing, arrest of children of solon, slain NDF consultant

Published Dec 3, 2020 02:42 pm

An organization of lawyers on Thursday, Dec. 3, expressed dismay over the government’s recent operations against the children of a party-list Representative and a slain consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

“Have we been so blinded in our thought processes and totally lost our sense of humanity?” asked the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) president Edre Olalia in a statement on Thursday, Dec. 3.

“How low and even evil have we sunk?” he added.

The NUPL president and lawyer issued the statement in response to the death of Jevilyn Cullamat, the 22-year-old daughter of Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Eufemia Cullamat, in Surigao del Sur and the arrest of Amanda Echanis, the daughter of slain  NDFP peace consultant Randall “Randy” Echanis, and her one-month-old baby in Cagayan.

“We were infinitely disturbed when we heard how a public functionary scoffed at the wake and burial of young mother Ina Nasino's Baby River as a ‘telenovela’; now just read a troll brazenly suggesting that young Amanda Echaniz and her one month old baby should both be ‘salvaged’ (extrajudicially killed); coupled with one government lawyer anomalously giving official legal justification for a group of soldiers posing and gloating over a young lifeless body of Jevilyn Cullamat with carefully lined-up weapons and materiel as supposed necessary and routinary ‘documentation’,” Olalia said.

Jevilyn was the lone casualty during a military encounter last Nov. 28 in Brgy. San Isidro in Marihatag, Surigao del Sur.

The military was criticized for turning Jevilyn into a trophy when it posted pictures of her remains online while soldiers posed in the background displaying seized weapons and banners.

While, Amanda was arrested by on Wednesday, Dec. 2, for possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives in Barangay Carupian in Baggao, Cagayan that was conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) which was criticized for also taking her one-month-old son.

Last October, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) spokesperson Assistant Secretary Celine Pialago was also slammed for calling as a “telenovela” the media coverage over the death and burial of the baby of political prisoner Reina Mae “Ina” Nasino.

Nasino, 23, coordinator of the urban poor organization Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) Manila chapter, is facing non-bailable charges of illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives that she claimed were trumped up.

The charges were filed following her arrest with two other activists on Nov. 5, 2019 at Bayan’s office in Tondo, Manila where police found firearms and explosives which, however, the accused claimed were planted.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.