KARAPATAN raises grave concern about the safety and welfare of former political prisoner Rowena Dasig who has been missing since August 22, 2024, her alleged release from the Lucena City District Jail (LCDJ).
Rowena, or “Owen” as her friends call her, is a youth activist and environmental defender who was arrested with fellow activist Miguela Peniero in Atimonan, Quezon on July 12, 2023 by elements of the 85th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA). Both were slapped with trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. These charges, however, were dismissed when the Gumaca Regional Trial Court Branch 172 granted their motion for a demurrer to evidence in a resolution dated August 13, 2024, but the document was released only on August 20. Owen was supposed to be released as soon as she fulfilled the requirements, while Miguela was to remain in detention due to other pending cases.
For reasons unknown, however, the LCDJ refused to release Owen on August 22 despite her lawyers and paralegals’ completion of the requirements. Upon her legal team’s return to the LCDJ on the morning of August 23, they were surprised to know that Owen had allegedly been released to a family member the previous night. A check with her family, however, revealed that they have neither seen nor heard from Owen since her supposed release. Her lawyers and paralegals fear that she may have been abducted by the military who have been stung by the junking of another manufactured case against activists in Southern Tagalog.
With Owen’s whereabouts, safety and welfare remaining unknown for four days now, KARAPATAN joins Owen Dasig’s lawyers, friends and fellow activists in searching for Owen and demanding that she be surfaced. We fervently hope that after hurdling trumped-up charges in court, Owen does not end up joining the growing list of victims of State-sponsored enforced disappearances under the Marcos Jr. regime.