After more than two years, the peasant leader in Cagayan Valley, Isabelo Adviento, better known as Manong Buting, has been released from imprisonment. He was detained on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed by the police. In the Karapatan-Cagayan Valley announcement today, June 8, Adviento was released earlier in April after the charges against him were dismissed.

Adviento, chairman of Danggayan dagiti Mannalon iti Cagayan Valley, regional chapter of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, was arrested on April 8, 2022 at a restaurant in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. At that time, he was also serving as the 4th nominee of the Anakpawis Partylist that was running in the election.

“After the extended legal process, the court dismissed the fabricated case of illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed by the CIDG-PNP. Manong Buting was finally released,” Karapatan-Cagayan Valley said. The National Union of People’s Lawyers and SENTRA collaborated with them in handling Adviento’s cases.

Before being arrested in April 2022, the police tried to arrest him in December 2020 when police and soldiers raided his house in Barangay Carupian, Baggao, Cagayan. State forces falsely claimed having confiscated guns, ammunition and explosives during the raid. He was also relentlessly Red-tagged.

Following Adviento’s release, Karapatan-Cagayan Valley called for the dismissal of the trumped-up charges against 23 other political prisoners in the region. “Activism is not a crime, and it is certainly not terrorism to engage on all forms of resistance aimed at social liberation and democracy,” it concluded.