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Detained activist Reina Mae Nasino on Friday asked the Supreme Court to remove the judge of the Manila Regional Court of First Instance (RTC) who issued an order in August separating her from her young daughter, who died of complications two months later.
In an administrative complaint filed by his mother, Marites Asis, and her lawyer from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), Nasino accused Judge Marivic Balisi-Umali of Manila RTC Branch 20 of misconduct and ignorance of the law. when she turned down Nasino’s request in July that she be allowed to breastfeed her newborn daughter, River Emmanuelle.
They said Nasino had that right in accordance with the law and international standards on the treatment of women in detention.
The 23-year-old activist gave birth to River on July 1, months after she was arrested by police in a raid on an office of the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Tondo, Manila, in November 2019.
Nasino was arrested and charged in the Umali court with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Shortly after River’s birth, Nasino asked the court to let her continue caring for her baby. The request was denied and, in August, the court ordered the separation of the mother from her daughter, who was handed over to Assisi.
FOR THE RIVER Marites Asis (center), mother of detained activist Reina Mae Nasino, along with attorneys Kathy Panguban and Maria Sol Taule, file an administrative complaint against Manila Judge Marivic Balisi-Umali in the Supreme Court on Friday. —RICHARD A. REYES
‘Right to breastfeed’
In the lawsuit requesting Umali’s removal from the judiciary, Nasino argued that the judge’s order was contrary to “international law and national laws that recognize the right of the mother and child to breastfeed, as well as the best interests of the child.” .
As a legal basis, it cited the Law for the Expanded Promotion of Breastfeeding of 2009 (Law of the Republic No. 10028) and the policy on breastfeeding stations of the Office of Prison Administration and Penology (BJMP).
“The defendant judge should have known that the right to breastfeed, as a component of the constitutional right to health, is self-executing. As upheld by the Supreme Court,… the constitutional provisions that protect and promote the right to health are considered self-executing and do not need legislation for their implementation, ”the complaint says.
Nasino’s lawyers also cited Umali’s order in July to deny the mother and child access to the nursing facilities in the female dormitory of the Manila city jail.
Umali not only “made mistakes in judgment, but unreasonably violated the very purpose of the law and the rules under consideration and unfairly harmed health and life [of the child]”He said, adding:
“Undoubtedly, the assaulted orders of the defendant judge gave way to the deterioration of the baby River’s health, which finally led to his tragic death (on October 9).”
‘Degrading way’
“[Umali’s] Dismissal from the service is imperative, “says the complaint. “Even if this won’t bring baby River’s life back or fill the void left in her mother’s heart, it will relieve the bank – and the public – of a magistrate who has lost the necessary competence, integrity, and impartiality that are essential for your office. “
Another court accepted Nasino’s request to be at River’s wake, but only for two days, at a pandaca funeral home on October 14 and to be at the boy’s burial on October 16.
The security arrangements for the funeral, however, came under heavy criticism from Nasino supporters, netizens, and some politicians for being “excessive,” as more than 20 police officers and prison guards in battle gear They were deployed to control the crowd.
NUPL said Nasino may also press charges against the police and BJMP for his “inhuman and degrading” treatment of the grieving mother. —WITH REPORT FROM JODEE A. AGONCILLO
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