RTC acquits Mabinay 6

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 42 in Dumaguete City on Monday, September 22, acquitted the six activists known as the Mabinay 6 after more than seven years of detention.

The court identified those acquitted as Myles Albasin, Randel Hermino, Carlo Ybañes, Joemar Indico, Joey Vailoces, and Bernard Guillen.

Authorities arrested the group on March 3, 2018, in Barangay Luyang, Mabinay, Negros Oriental, and accused them of being members of the New People’s Army.

Paraffin tests later showed that all six tested negative for powder burns.

Human rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos represented the Mabinay 6 until unidentified assailants killed him in Kabankalan City in November 2018.

The same Army battalion also accused the so-called Himamaylan 7, of joining an ambush against soldiers in Kabankalan’s hinterlands.

After nearly six years in jail, a court freed them in November 2024, ruling that the charges against them lacked evidence.* (Reymund Titong / 99.7 Brigada Kabankalan)