Former Rebels Question Acquittal of Amanda Echanis, Cite Personal Accounts of CPP-NPA Involvement

Former members of the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) have publicly expressed dissenting views on the recent acquittal of Amanda Echanis, disputing claims circulating online that the court ruling amounts to a categorical clearing of her alleged links to the insurgent group.

In a Facebook post, Richard Chiong, a former rebel from Ifugao, said the dismissal of the firearms and explosives case against Echanis does not negate what he described as his direct personal experience with her inside the communist movement.

“Nakalaya man sa kulungan si Amanda Echanis, subalit para sa akin, batay sa aking personal na karanasan at pakikisalamuha, hindi maikakaila ang kanyang naging ugnayan sa kilusan,” he wrote [She may have been released from detention, but in my view, based on my personal experience and direct interactions with her, her links to the movement cannot be denied.]

Not just an activist

Richard said he first met Echanis while he was still a youth activist with Anakbayan in Sitio San Roque, Brgy. Bagong Pag-asa, Quezon City, where Echanis was known within the movement as “Ka Amanda” or “Ka Kaye.” According to his account, Echanis later became part of a party collective and was eventually deployed to Cagayan Valley as a member of the New People’s Army.

Amanda is the daughter of the late Randall Echanis political consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). On 10 August 2020, the elder Echanis and a neighbor were killed at Echanis’ home in Quezon City.

He further claimed that Echanis functioned as a semi-legal cadre, serving as education staff under the CPP’s National Organization Department, later associated with the Semiproletariat Committee under the National Trade Union Bureau. As a legal cover, she was introduced as a national staff member of Sining Kadamay, the cultural arm of the urban poor group Kadamay.

Through this arrangement, Richard said, Echanis was able to move freely among Kadamay chapters that also hosted party branches. He said that her work included educational profiling of party members, assisting local units in managing educational work, recruiting members for formal party courses such as the Basic and Intermediate Party Courses, and distributing printed copies of Ang Bayan, the CPP’s official publication.

As corroboration, Richard said he was part of the same section committee as Echanis in Sitio San Roque in 2012, alongside her then-partner known as “Ka Rem,” who served as the group’s secretary. He added that both Echanis and Rem were among his instructors during party courses held in a daycare center in Montalban, Rizal, and later in a seminary in Banawe, Quezon City.

“Si Ka Kaye ay hindi lang aktibista kundi isang lider komunista [Ka Kaye is not merely an activist, but a communist leader],” Richard wrote, warning that her release would allow her to resume her insurgent work as a CPP cadre either in urban or rural areas.

Acquittal not historical erasure

Another former rebel, Arian Jane Ramos, also challenged the narrative surrounding Echanis’ acquittal, cautioning against equating a favorable court ruling with historical or political absolution.

In her FB post, Ramos stressed that the Regional Trial Court’s dismissal of one charge for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 9516 merely reflected the prosecution’s failure to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, not a judicial declaration that the alleged acts or affiliations never occurred.

amanda.jpg Caption: Amanda during a cultural performance of an NPA unit in Cagayan Valley.

“An acquittal is judicial restraint, not historical erasure,” Ramos wrote, adding that courts rule on evidence presented, not on the totality of a person’s political history.

She criticized what she described as attempts to use the ruling to assert that Echanis was “merely an activist,” to discredit the government wholesale, or to claim vindication for armed struggle. According to Ramos, such interpretations go beyond what the decision legally established.

Harder questions remain open

Ramos also acknowledged shortcomings on the part of the State, saying weak case buildup and poor evidence handling undermine public trust and provide ammunition for propaganda. At the same time, she argued that calling for the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) based on a single acquittal was an overreach, noting that the existence of an armed insurgency has been repeatedly recognized in jurisprudence.

Both former rebels emphasized that activism itself is not criminalized under Philippine law, but warned against what they described as the normalization of armed rebellion under the guise of legal dissent.

“The court closed a case,” Ramos wrote. “The harder questions remain open.”

Echanis was acquitted recently by a Cagayan court of one count involving alleged illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The ruling has been widely cited by her supporters as proof that the charges against her were fabricated, a claim now being contested by former members of the communist movement citing their own accounts and experiences.