After seven years in jail, Myles Albasin and five others acquitted

CMFR/PHILIPPINES— The Regional Trial Court Branch 42 in Dumaguete City has acquitted community journalist Myles Albasin and five others, known as the Mabinay 6, after more than seven years in detention. On September 22, the court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, the charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. 

Albasin was a community journalist and a mass communication graduate of the University of the Philippines Cebu. She was affiliated with Aninaw Productions, a Cebu-based alternative media outlet known for its advocacy in social justice and human rights. 

Albasin was 21 when she and her companions—Jomar Indico, Carlo Ybañes, Randel Hermino, Joey Vailoces, and Bernard Guillen—were arrested on March 3, 2018 in Barangay Luyang, Mabinay, Negros Oriental. Soldiers of the Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion claimed that the group had engaged them in a firefight and were caught in possession of high-powered firearms and explosives. The accused denied the allegations, saying they were merely resting in a house when the arrest took place.

In its September 22 decision, Judge Marie Rose Inocando-Paras cited several weaknesses in the prosecution’s case. No civilian witnesses from the barangay were presented to corroborate the military’s claim of a gunfight at dawn. All six accused also tested negative for gunpowder residue, a finding the court said was improbable if they had indeed fired weapons. Questions were likewise raised about the integrity of the evidence, as firearms and explosives were not clearly linked to any of the accused and were mishandled during custody and transport. 

The ruling noted that “marking of items was done at the police station and not at the place of arrest. No photographs were taken at the place of arrest.”

The court also underscored that the prosecution presented “numerous loopholes” in the evidence, making their version of the incident doubtful. The decision added: “While it is true that denial is a weak defense … it is still the burden of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt and overcome the Constitutional presumption of innocence.” 

Rights groups and legal advocates welcomed the acquittal as a vindication of due process. Albasin’s mother, Grace Albasin, expressed relief after years of what she described as “mental and emotional anguish,” recalling how her daughter and the others were repeatedly vilified and red-tagged while behind bars.

The acquittal of the Mabinay 6 should serve as a reminder of the urgent need to build safeguards into the implementation of the judicial procedures. The detention of individuals who are wrongfully accused betrays the democratic values that the legal system should uphold.