THE mother of one of the Mabinay 6, a group recently acquitted of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, expressed her relief and enduring hope for justice after her daughter’s seven-year legal ordeal.
Grace Cantal Albasin is the mother of Myles Albasin, a 29-year-old mass communication graduate of University of the Philippines-Cebu. She spoke of the emotional toll the case has taken on her family. She expressed her unyielding belief that her daughter would eventually be freed.
“Rodrigo Duterte and his lackeys may have clipped your freedom, but it won’t last forever,” Albasin, a journalist from Cagayan de Oro, said, referencing the former president.
The Mabinay 6 were arrested on March 3, 2018, in Barangay Luyang, Mabinay, Negros Oriental, after the Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion accused them of illegally possessing high-powered firearms.
The court’s acquittal this week capped a long legal battle. Her family said it caused “mental and emotional anguish.”
“This circumstance in your life has made us a stronger family. We’re more united than ever. We will prevail,” Albasin said.
She also expressed hope that the International Criminal Court (ICC) would serve as a “vanguard of justice” for those who died in Duterte’s anti-drug and counterinsurgency campaigns and those who were “incarcerated for trumped-up charges.”
“To see the monster Duterte at the ICC detention now is a relief to our misery as we inch closer to justice for all those who died in his drug war and insurgency campaigns and those incarcerated for trumped-up charges,” she said.
Albasin also acknowledged the support of “true friends who have become family,” lawyers, and strangers who helped them throughout the ordeal.
However, she sadly noted that some relatives and friends had enabled the former president’s “monstrosity.”
“These kinds of people and Duterte will not break us,” she said.
