Newsbreak Reads: Rowena Tiamson, not a drug pusher

Welcome to Newsbreak Reads – audio recordings of select in-depth stories and long form pieces from Rappler’s investigative and research section. For the full text version of this story, visit rappler.com/newsbreak

MANILA, Philippines – Rowena Tiamson was a graduating student with big dreams for herself and her family. A consistent honor student and a choir member, the 22-year-old did not fit the profile of a drug user.

But her lifeless body was found in Pangasinan on July 19, a cardboard sign around her neck saying “Huwag tularan, pusher (Don’t emulate me. I’m a pusher.)”

Her family and friends insist that she had been wrongly killed, and that she did not deserve to be part of the “collateral damage” of the government’s bloody campaign against drugs. – Rappler.com

7-minute listen. Written by Jodesz Gavilan, read by Marguerite de Leon, edited by Exxon Ruebe. Read the full text story here.

• Listen to the 2nd episode: Newsbreak Reads: Drug user? No, Oman was a good son
• Listen to the 3rd episode: Newsbreak Reads: In war on drugs, lives of police at risk too
• Listen to the 4th episode: Newsbreak Reads: Martial Law, the dark chapter in Philippine history
• Listen to the 5th episode: Newsbreak Reads: ‘Nanlaban sila’: Duterte’s war on drugs
• Listen to the 6th episode: Newsbreak Reads: Propaganda war: Weaponizing the internet