A 22-year-old activist from Smokey Mountain shares how from being her parent’s perennial headache, she rose to the challenges of fighting for their community through now jailed activist Reina Nasino’s help.

Nasino’s counsel, Katherine Panguban of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers said that baby River Emmanuelle did not simply die of pneumonia but of the prevailing injustice in the country.

“The strict lockdown crippled us. On top of the ongoing militarization in our community, it is difficult to survive. Many of us only have a handful of our produce.”

“Another victory for the youth — a clear manifestation of fighting for rights and injustices of the Filipino people is not unlawful.”

“The arrest of Belen is a very clear example of the dangers of red-tagging, resulting in violations to the right to life, liberty and security of human rights defenders, including indigenous women human rights defenders who are fighting for their communities’ land, resources and rights.”