SIX activists collectively dubbed as the “Mabinay 6” walked free yesterday after spending seven years in detention, after a Dumaguete court acquitted them of charges of possession of illegal firearms and explosives.
Cleared by Branch 42 of the Dumaguete City Regional Trial Court were: Myles Albasin, a journalist and mass communication graduate of University of the Philippines- Cebu, Randel Hermino, Carlo Ybañes, and peasant organizers Joemar Indico, Joey Vailoces, and Bernard Guille.
In acquitting them, the court said the prosecution “failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”
They were arrested by Army troopers on March 3, 2018 in Barangay Luyang, Mabinay, Negros Oriental and were tagged as members of the communist New People’s Army.
Authorities said they traded gunfire with the soldiers, with the latter seizing four M-16 rifles, including one fitted with an M203 40 mm grenade launcher and two M4 rifles at the alleged encounter site.
However, paraffin tests later showed that all six tested negative for powder burns.
Although they were arraigned on May 2, 2018, the pre-trial for their cases was only scheduled by the Dumaguete court on October 8, 2021.
One of their lawyers, Benjamin Ramos, was gunned down by unidentified suspects in November 2018 in Kabankalan City.
