Detained daughter of slain NDF exec launches historic UP council bid

MANILA, Philippines — Amanda Echanis has been behind bars since 2020 due to a non-bailable case, which she and her organization deemed as trumped-up, but this did not stop her from pursuing her creative writing degree at the University of the Philippines.

READ: Echanis’ daughter detained with baby

Amanda, a peasant woman organizer and daughter of slain National Democratic Front consultant Randy Echanis, is not letting a jail cell get in her way once more, this time in her historic bid for UP Diliman student council.

READ: Peace talks adviser to NDFP killed at home

“Life doesn’t end in prison,” the 36-year-old said in her opening speech on Monday or during the beginning of UP student election campaign period.

“As the saying goes, bloom where you are planted,” she continued.

‘What is presence anyway?’

Amanda, a fourth-year college student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing in Filipino, is attending her classes through virtual means.

While in detention, Echanis has been writing and translating poems in Filipino.

Once elected, she vowed to fulfill her duties the same way she complies with academic requirements.

“So, even though I am not there physically, I am one with you, trying to build bridges of communication and relationships,” she said.

She continued, “Let us not box or limit service to others to just physical presence. While this is important, it should not be decisive. What does it mean to be present? What is presence anyway? What is absence? What does student representation really mean?”

Amanda’s campaign is focused on social justice while pushing for greater academic freedoms.

They can imprison me physically, but not my fighting spirit,” she said.

‘Not a criminal’

Amanda, with her infant son, was arrested by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Tuguegarao City in December 2020.

She was arrested less than a month after giving birth and has since been detained at Cagayan Provincial Jail in the same city.

Now, her son was “has spent his formative years separated from his mother who has done nothing but fight for Filipino farmers’ and peasant women’s rights to land, food security, livelihood, and justice,” the Free Amanda Echanis Movement said in a statement in Dec. 2024 to mark her fourth year in detention.

Police said they found two hand grenades, an M-16 rifle, a loaded magazine, and some ammunition in her house.

Possession of grenades or other types of explosives is normally a non-bailable offense.

“Amanda Echanis is not a criminal,” the group calling for her release further said. “She is a woman, a beacon of hope to a nation striving for justice.”