The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has started its probe on the case of environmentalist Rowena "Owen" Dasig who was reported missing after her release last Aug. 22 from the Lucena City District Jail.
The Gumaca regional trial court (RTC) in Quezon province dismissed last Aug. 13 the charges of illegal possesion of firearms and explosives filed against Dasig.
In a statement, the CHR called for the "exhaustive search" of Dasig who was arrested in July 2023 in Atimonan, Quezon together with Miguela "Ella" Peniero, a health worker, who is still detained.
The military tagged Dasig as a leader of the New People's Army (NPA).
The CHR asked the government to strictly enforce Republic Act No. 10535, the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act.
It said: "It is important that human right defenders in our country are able to effectively conduct their work without any fear for their own welfare. It is about time that we strengthen the safeguards on the rights of activists to address their susceptibility to violence, harassment, and even red-tagging."
"In protecting the rights of every Filipino, it is equally important that we also put the welfare of human rights defenders at par with the safeguards that the Philippine Constitution has guaranteed," it also said.
It assured that it "remains undeterred in calling for maintaining the upkeep of a healthy democracy by promoting a society where all citizens are able to freely voice out and act on their own advocacies."