Mother’s love transcends repressive prison walls
For Grace Albasin, visiting her daughter Myles is a bout between pain and love. “I leave the detention center, and my heart hurts. Yet, I know that being with her is the greatest love I can give.”
CEBU — Grace Albasin, a veteran journalist and mother of political detainee Myles, rarely misses a beat. She has developed a new weekly routine over the past seven years. Five days a week, she prepares lunch, scours for books for Myles to read, and runs legal errands in Dumaguete City.
By 1:00 p.m., she sits down with the meal she prepared, ready for her regular conversation with Myles. Aside from lunch, this time is important for Grace. It’s when she gives Myles updates about the case and what’s happening outside.
Like her mother, Myles is a journalist who writes for an alternative media, Aninaw Productions, for stories in Negros Oriental. Myles is also a peasant advocate.
Myles just graduated with a degree in mass communication from the University of the Philippines Cebu when she was arrested on March 3, 2018, along with five other activists in Barangay Luyang, Mabinay, Negros Oriental. Randel Hermino, a native of Negros Oriental, came from a family of sugarcane workers. Carlo Ybañes grew up in an urban poor community in Cebu, while Joemar Indico, Joey Vailoces, and Bernard Guillen dedicated themselves to organizing peasant communities. Collectively, they became known as the Mabinay 6.
The Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion accused the Mabinay 6 of possessing four M-16 assault rifles with an M-203 grenade launcher and two M-4 assault rifles. But the Mabinay 6 tested negative for gunpowder and paraffin tests done at the Negros Oriental Provincial Crime Laboratory.
Six months after they pleaded not guilty on May 2, 2018, Benjamin Ramos, one of their legal counsels, was shot dead by unknown assailants in a public plaza in Kabankalan City. They have remained in jail for seven years now.
For Grace, visiting Myles is a bout between pain and love. “I leave the detention center, and my heart hurts. Yet, I know that being with her is the greatest love I can give.”
Uprooted
This was never Grace’s beat before. She was editor-in-chief of SunStar Cagayan de Oro. Her husband Lloyd manages a farm in Quezon, Bukidnon. Their youngest daughter Marley was still in high school at the time of Myles’s arrest in 2018 and is now pursuing a medical degree. Since Myles’s detention, her family has been continually figuring out their next steps.
Months later after the arrest, Grace was diagnosed with cervical cancer. “I have already shown symptoms prior to the arrest but I was diagnosed two months after.”
Despite the logistical difficulty, Grace said that they tried to spend Christmas and New Year’s Day with Myles over lunch. But isolation during the pandemic was the hardest for the family. Arranging travels was more difficult than before and visits were not allowed. Persons deprived of liberty (PDL) like Myles had to depend on a five-minute phone call to talk to family.
“There was even a time when her asthma attack became severe; we were so worried and couldn’t do much since it was during the pandemic. We tried to reach out to people who could bring her medicine because we had no family in Dumaguete,” Grace told Bulatlat in Cebuano.
Myles has had asthma since childhood, which can worsen during stressful moments or in unfamiliar environments. “She’s allergic to dust. It can start as rhinitis and often escalates to asthma,” Grace said.
During pandemic, the prison system maintains that they are COVID-free. While the family members were unable to visit the PDLs, Grace told Bulatlat that there were two military officers who visited Myles and asked her to work with the state agents. Grace mentioned that out of anger, Myles came out to face them and told them no.
Around this period, at a media briefing in January 2021, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana falsely presented a list of UP students who, according to him, had joined the communist movement and were killed in military encounters.
Among those named was Myles Albasin.
“When I saw the list handed out during the media briefing and Lorenzana’s tweet that showed Myles’s photo along with other young people Lorenzana was referring to, I feared for my detained daughter’s as well as our family’s safety, given how, under this government, such lists have become a tool of terror, a mark of death,” Grace said in an open letter to Lorenzana published in Rappler.
In the same letter, Grace detailed the online threats they have received, including social media memes ridiculing Myles, and tarpaulins labeling her daughter and the Mabinay 6 as enemies of the state.
Seeing the dire situation in 2023 as the defense was set to present its case, Grace relocated to Dumaguete City to support Myles during the trial. “I was not ready at that time but I know it’s going to be a long and arduous legal battle. I can’t leave her alone.”
Found family
When Grace moved to Dumaguete, it was the daily expenses that financially strained the Albasin family. “I was jobless and I just relied on people who love Myles and who have journeyed with her since 2018.”
Local chapters of Kabataan partylist, church groups, and other progressive groups came in support of Myles Albasin. “People from the church and progressive groups like Kabataan partylist were the first to support Myles during the pandemic and myself when I relocated. When Myles needed food or medicine, they were the first people to respond,” Grace said.
Three of Myles Albasin’s high school classmates and their principal from Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan sought assistance from lawyer Tony La Viña. He is now part of Myles’s legal team.
When La Viña and their legal counsel learned that Grace was undergoing cancer treatment at the time of the arrest of Myles, they petitioned to secure Myles’s release on recognizance (ROR). However, this was denied.
Grace told Bulatlat that it was at this time when Myles was supposed to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer as Xavier University College of Law gave her a full scholarship in 2018.
Delayed pursuit for law
After an unsuccessful attempt to enroll Myles Albasin in Xavier University College of Law, contingent upon approval of her release on recognizance, she was subsequently accepted into Silliman University College of Law for the first semester of the 2021-2022 academic year.
Due to the pandemic, Silliman University’s Juris Doctor program shifted to online learning. Applicants, Myles included, underwent a panel interview and awaited the admission results.
“Myles was enrolled in Silliman law school but when we made the request for her to access gadgets and the internet, the BJMP rejected this,” Grace said.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Region VII denied Myles access citing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 2012-0010, which forbids PDLs to use or bring electronic devices or gadgets in jail. BJMP also cited that the Presidential Decree No. 1445 “…prohibits the use of government-issued properties for private purposes.”
“That was another heartbreak for Myles,” Grace said. She added that they attempted to re-enroll Myles in Silliman University’s law school in 2024, opting for a modular setup. This time, they filed the appeal with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Dumaguete City. “We aimed for this in hopes that when she comes out of jail, there’s only a few things she needs to catch up on.”
Like their request for Myles to access devices and the internet with BJMP, this has been rejected. “The way I see it, this is a battle for reforming the Philippine penal system to ensure access to education, regardless of whether one is convicted or in detention,” Grace said.
For seven years, the Albasin family attempted three times to enroll Myles Albasin to pursue legal education. “We have exhausted all avenues, yet she continues to spend a significant portion of her life in detention,” Grace said.
Myles will turn 29 on March 21, 2025.
A different beat
Grace continues her regular conversation with Myles. She attends to legal errands and other needs, not only for Myles but also for the rest of the Mabinay 6, especially now that Joey Vailoces, a peasant organizer, is undergoing kidney treatment. She actively seeks support from progressive groups and other concerned communities.
Myles consults Grace about musical plays she’s staging for women in the detention center. According to Grace, Myles tries to find a perfect Original Pinoy Music (OPM) tailored to the life experiences of the inmate performers.
The musical moved hearts, leading the prison ministry to commend and request its staging for Women’s Month.
On Fridays and Mondays, when visits are not allowed, Grace shared that Myles often reads books given by her friends and former professors. Some of these books were authored by Milan Kundera, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Ambeth Ocampo. Some were given by Grace upon Myles’s request. When she’s not reading, she paints and crochets for her loved ones.
Fridays and Mondays present a different beat for Grace. On these days, without her usual 1:00 p.m. lunch with Myles, she faces the lulls and stillness of waiting, often reflecting, “Have I done everything I could do for her to be free?” (RVO, DAA)
The post Mother’s love transcends repressive prison walls appeared first on Bulatlat.
Leave a Comment