“Amanda Echanis represents the strength of women who bravely speak out against injustice. Her detention is a stark reminder of how governments silence female voices to suppress dissent. We must champion her struggle and amplify her writing, ensuring that women like her can continue to share their truths.” Judyth Hill, Chair of the Women Writers Committee of PEN International

8 March 2025: Amanda Echanis, a poet, writer, and activist, has been detained since December 2020 when she was arrested with her one-month-old baby on charges frequently used against ‘red-tagged’ individuals. Echanis has consistently rejected the charges against her, claiming the evidence was fabricated, yet her trial has been repeatedly delayed, denying her ability to establish her innocence in court. Despite her ongoing detention, she remains dedicated to her writing.

PEN International is gravely concerned over allegations of the use of fabricated charges against Echanis and calls on the government to ensure her right to a fair trial. The organisation also calls for an immediate end to the use of ‘red-tagging’ and other attempts to threaten and silence writers, journalists and activists. Take action with us on International Women’s Day 2025.

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PEN International calls on the Philippines authorities to ensure Amanda Echanis’ right to a fair trial and ability to establish her innocence without further delay. The organisation also calls for an impartial and effective investigation into the circumstances of her arrest, including allegations that evidence used against her was fabricated. PEN International urges the Philippines authorities to follow the Philippine Supreme Court’s ruling and immediately end to the practice of ‘red-tagging’, which has had a deadly toll on writers, journalists and activists engaged in peaceful expression.

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Background
A poet, writer and activist, Amanda Echanis has been held continuously detained since she was arrested at her home alongside her then one-month-old baby on 2 December 2020. She was charged with illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and explosives—a charge frequently used against individuals who have been ‘red-tagged’, or accused by government authorities or their affiliates of having ties to communist insurgent groups. Echanis has categorically denied the accusation, and alleged that Philippine authorities fabricated the evidence against her.
She has now spent over four years in detention, with her court hearings repeatedly being postponed, in violation of international law and standards on the right to a fair trial, which includes the right to be heard without undue delay, which is particularly crucial for those denied bail.
Echanis is the daughter of Randall ‘Ka Randy’ Echanis, an activist advocating for rural workers’ rights who was arrested in 1990 on the same charge she currently faces. Before the age of two, she lived in a custodial detention centre with her parents, earning her the distinction of being the country’s youngest political prisoner’ at the time. The case against her father was dismissed in 1992, but in August 2020, just months before Echanis’ arrest, he was brutally murdered in a case that remains unsolved.
Echanis is the author of several literary works. In 2023, she published a collection of her poetry and essays from prison, entitled Binhi ng Paglaya (Seeds of Liberation), and was awarded the 2023 Southeast Asian Translation Mentorship, established by The Seams in conjunction with Ethos Books, who are supporting Echanis’ translation of Filipino poetry. In 2024, she participated in a prestigious creative writing workshop, the Palihang Rogelio Sicat, which is named after renowned Filipino novelist, Rogelio Sicat. Launched in 1984, the workshop was held in a hybrid format for the first time to enable Echanis’ participation from prison.
For more information about PEN International’s work on Philippines, please click here.