MANILA, Philippines – Environmental activist Rowena “Owen” Dasig has been found safe after two months of disappearance, following what her lawyers described as an irregular release from detention.
Dasig appeared with her lawyers on Tuesday, October 22, and is undergoing a debriefing.
“Owen has finally been found and we are pleased to hear that she is currently safe. She has reached out to us and informed us that she remains committed to her advocacies for the environment and human rights,” said her counsels, veteran human rights lawyers Tony La Viña and Carlos Zarate.
Dasig and fellow environmental activist Miguela Peniero were acquitted by a court in Gumaca, Quezon in August this year. But she was not immediately freed – a process that her lawyers had scored as “unlawful.” When she was finally scheduled for release, Dasig went missing, sparking a two-month campaign to surface her.
Dasig and Peniero were arrested in Atimonan, Quezon, in July 2023 while conducting research in a liquefied natural gas plant, according to her counsels.
Ida Palo, one of Dasig’s paralegals, told Rappler that the warden of the female dormitory of the Lucena City District Jail (LCDJ) was unreachable on the day of the activist’s scheduled release.
Dasig’s lawyers claimed that the delay in her release from detention was in violation of Article 126 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes public officers who “unduly delay the service of the notice of such order to said prisoner or the proceedings upon any petition for the liberation of such person.”
La Viña told Rappler on Wednesday, October 23, that they “plan to file the appropriate charges later on.” La Viña said that the jail officers have not provided them any explanation. “We wrote letters and called them several times,” he said
“[They eventually released her] without informing her lawyers and legal team who was waiting to pick her up. She was released and brought to Bicol without her consent. Fortunately, she was able to contact us after two months and we arranged to have her come back to Manila safely,” La Viña said.
“Strictly speaking, this is stil an enforced disappearance because of the role of the state in her unconsented restraint of liberty,” he added.
Rappler tried to get in touch with the LCDJ Female Dormitory through the usual communication lines to arrange visits, but they did not respond to that message.
Life under detention
Dasig had been red-tagged and terror-tagged by the Philippine army. Dasig and Peniero were charged with the non-bailable offense of illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and explosives, the usual
“common crime” slapped against activists.
Charging activists of common crimes had been a trend especially after the repeal of the law outlawing communism in 1992.
Dasig was tagged as a “high-risk” person deprived of liberty (PDL) during detention, said her lawyers. A paralegal, who also asked not to be named, said it took them eight months to finally talk to Dasig after her arrest in July 2023.
While detained, Dasig was the source of strength to the activists helping her, said one paralegal.
“Minsan medyo hopeless ka na kasi paralegal ka lang. Tapos siya pa ang magpapadala sa iyo ng message. Siya pa ang magdadala sa iyo ng ganoong strength,” Palo said.
(Sometimes you become hopeless because you are just a paralegal. Then she’ll even be the one to send you a message. She’ll even be one who will bring you that kind of strength.)
Music lover, public health advocate
Her friends describe Dasig as a warm person who would even cross the street to give a friend a hug.
Dasig is a K-pop fan, and an Aespa stan. A music lover, Dasig enjoys listening to Phoebe Bridgers.
She took up medical technology in college, and it was during that time that she developed an advocacy for public health. It was during the height of the pandemic when Dasig decided to join the progressive group Anakbayan.
As part of an organized group, Dasig was a first respondent in health and environmental missions.
When a diarrhea outbreak affected the Dumagat tribe in Tanay, Rizal, Dasig was among the first people to respond.
“Ang hindi ko makakalimutan sa mga panahong nakasama ko siya ay mga paglubog mismo sa komunidad. Tulad noong Tulaog festival 2022, na kitang-kita ang kaniyang dedikasyon para matulungan ang mga Dumagat at Remontado,” said Paul Tagle, her friend and also one of the case paralegals.
(What I can’t forget during the times that I was with her were our complete immersion in communities. Just like in Tulaog festival 2022, where her dedication to help the Dumagats and Remontados was very apparent.)
Before she became a political prisoner herself, Dasig was a paralegal, too. She was a paralegal in the case of Daisy Macapanpan, an environmental defender who was arrested on June 11, 2022, for leading the opposition against the construction of the Ahunan Pumped-Storage Hydropower Project. The project will affect the Pakil, Laguna, portion of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
“[Dasig was] so serious, focused, and talked in a very calm manner. Composure never faltered in the face of many people,” said Palo. “First-timer ako [noon]. It brings strength sa mga kasama mo na naninibago at natatakot. To see someone like Owen, na very simple lang, ang dala lang niya back and forth ay isang simpleng tote bag na puro case files.”
(I was a first-timer back then. People who are newbies and scared draw strength from seeing someone like Owen who’s very simple, who would only bring a tote bag filled with case files back and forth.) – With reports from Lian Buan/Rappler.com
Dean Gabriel Amarillas, a 3rd year Philippine studies student in UP Diliman, is a Rappler intern. Learn more about Rappler’s internship program here.