MANILA - Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban welcomed the acquittal of activist Reina Mae Nasino, who had lost her newborn child while undergoing trial.

In an interview during an event by the Foundation for Liberty and Prosperity in Makati on Friday, Panganiban said he felt that justice was served after the court handling Nasino’s case ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove that she and her two companions were in illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

“Sad to say, her baby can no longer be given life. Common sense, equity, and common justice dictated that the baby should not have been separated from the mother,” added Panganiban.

Nasino was pregnant when she was arrested in November 2019.

She gave birth while under detention and was separated from her newborn child not long after. The baby, named River, died before they could be reunited.

• Manila court acquits Reina Mae Nasino, 2 others due to insufficient evidence

Panganiban believes judicial delay may have played a role in the tragic fate of Baby River.

“Judicial delay has always been a problem. It was a problem before I became a member of the court, it’s still a problem now simply because there are just too many cases. And sometimes, some of the justices are quite slow,” he said.

In April 2020, Nasino, who was pregnant at that time, joined a group of sick and elderly political prisoners and detainees in filing a petition urging the Supreme Court to order their temporary release as they faced the threat of acquiring COVID-19 in crowded jails.

On July 28 of that year, the high court ruled on the matter. The magistrates voted to treat the petition as a petition for bail, leaving it to trial courts to determine if the petitioners are individually entitled to post bail. However, most of them were facing non-bailable charges.

The result of the SC vote was not announced by the Supreme Court Public Information Office until September 10.

This led human rights groups to criticize the Supreme Court for supposedly not doing enough to prevent the death of Baby River.

• After activists' acquittal, DOJ to study what happened: Remulla

Panganiban meanwhile acknowledged the current efforts of Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo to speed up the judicial process.

“To be fair, Chief Justice Gesmundo has been trying his best to computerize the court, to digitize it. And he’s introducing artificial intelligence, in fact. He’s a passionate reformer in that sense and I appreciate it,” he said.

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