A poet, writer and activist, Amanda Echanis was arrested at her home on 2 December 2020, on a charge of ‘illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives’, which is routinely used against those who have been ‘red-tagged’ - or accused by government authorities or its proxies of having links to communist insurgency groups. Writers, journalists and those who criticise the government or the military are all vulnerable to ‘red-tagging’, exposing them to harassment, arbitrary arrest or even death. Amanda has flatly rejected the allegation and has accused the Philippine authorities of planting evidence.
In 1990, Amanda’s father was arrested on the same charge, which resulted in her staying at a custodial detention centre when she was less than two years old, making her the country’s ‘youngest political prisoner’ at the time before the case was later dismissed in 1992. Shortly before Amanda’s arrest, her father was brutally murdered in a case that remains unsolved.
Amanda Echanis is a writer, poet and activist. She is the author of several literary works and has continued to write from behind bars. In 2023, Echanis published a collection of her poetry and essays from prison, entitled Binhi ng Paglaya (Seeds of Liberation), and in June 2024, she participated in a prestigious creative writing workshop, the Palihang Rogelio Sicat, which was convened in hybrid format for the first time to accommodate Echanis’ participation while detained.
PEN International calls for an independent investigation into the circumstances of her arrest, including allegations of evidence planting.
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*https://www.pen-international.org/cases/amanda-echanis
*https://www.pen-international.org/our-campaigns/international-womens-day-2025-amanda-echanis
- For further information please contact Ross Holder, Head of Asia Pacific Region at PEN International: [email protected].
- For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, PEN International Communications and Campaigns Manager, [email protected].
