Karapatan-Central Visayas and other human rights groups demanded the Marcos regime to release the Mabinay 6 who were detained on March 3, 2018 on criminal charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Karapatan-Central Visayas said these cases are trumped up and meant to harass, and they should be released.

The Mabinay 6 are Myles Albasin, Carlo Ybañez, Randel Hermino, Bernard Guillen, Joey Vailoces and Joemar Indico who were arrested in Mabinay, Negros Oriental.

“The Mabinay 6 are among those who have been detained the longest after their warrantless arrests in 2018. And six years is a long time to deprive them of their freedom and basic human rights,” said Dennis Abarientos, spokesperson for Karapatan-Central Visayas.

Abarientos believes that it is very important for justice to prevail and that the Mabinay 6 to be released immediately. “The prolonged detention of these individuals without solid evidence is a clear violation of their rights,” he said.

The 62nd IB falsely claimed that they arrested the victims during an armed encounter with the New People’s Army (NPA) in March 2018. Witnesses contradicted these claims and insisted that it was false.

The Mabinay 6 are among the 154 political prisoners in the islands of Negros, Cebu and Bohol, all of whom are activists, farmers, church leaders and human rights defenders facing criminal charges. This is a tactic used by the state to silence and terrorize anyone who opposes rights abuses by the state’s armed forces.