Palayain ang Aking Nanay!

Palayain ang Aking Nanay! is about the experience of a child whose mother is a political prisoner. The book is part of the campaign calling for the release of Amanda Echanis and her 1-year old son Randall.

Peasant women organizer Amanda Lacaba Echanis was arrested on 2 December 2020, less than a month after giving birth to her baby Randall. During her pregnancy, Amanda was involved in the relief operations in Cagayan Valley, working to help the farmers and agricultural workers who were hardest hit
by the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Typhoon Ulysses. She and her son are still detained at the Cagayan Provincial Jail in Tuguegarao.

The Free Amanda Echanis Network (FAEN) is a broad network of supporters from various sectors, including women, youth, artists, peasants, and the urban poor, among others. Amanda is a longtime activist and the daughter of former Anakpawis chairperson Randall Echanis, who was tortured and killed on August 10, 2020. According to human rights organization Karapatan, there have been 1,159 cases of illegal arrest and detention, and 424 victims of extrajudicial killings, under the Duterte administration.

FAEN condemns the harassment of Amanda through the conduct of a warrantless raid, the planting of evidence, and the filing of trumped-up charges against her. FAEN also reiterates the urgency of immediately releasing Amanda, especially given the increased risks faced by a nursing mother and baby in the Philippine penal system.