Myles Albasin (right) and five companions await inquest proceedings at the Negros Oriental prosecutor’s office after their arrest. —FLORENCE BAESA / CEBU DAILY NEWS
CEBU CITY—No one taught her to be radical but seeing the poor, seeing beggars made her one.
The mother of 21-year-old Myles Albasin, a mass communication graduate of the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu, said her daughter was not a member of New People’s Army (NPA) contrary to the accusation made by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
But Grace, in a press conference on Thursday at UP Cebu after visiting her daughter at the Negros Oriental jail where Myles and five others were being detained, said she was aware of Myles’ trips to some of the country’s most impoverished and remotest areas to meet with farmers and villagers to know more about their lives.
“My daughter is not a member of NPA,” said Grace. “If she was in Negros Oriental for an immersion program with farmers there, then what’s wrong with that?” she said.
‘Why are there beggars, poor?’
Calling the trip by Myles to Negros Oriental an “immersion,” Grace said her daughter “grew up with a lot of questions.” “Like why are there beggars on the streets? Why are there poor people?” said Grace.
“No one taught her what radicalism is,” she said. “There was actually no need to teach her about that. She herself experienced what was going on in daily life,” added Grace.
Myles had been a leader since high school, helping organize students, farmers, fishermen, union workers and indigenous peoples to stand up for their rights, according to Grace.
In college, Myles was offered full scholarship by Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan and De La Salle University but she chose UP Cebu to take up mass communication, the same course her mother took.
Scared in jail
In UP, Myles joined the youth activist group Anakbayan and became its secretary general in Cebu. As Anakbayan leader, Myles often visited fishermen, farmers, workers and other groups.
Grace said she allowed Myles to be active in the group because it could help her become a good journalist.
In June 2017, Myles graduated from her mass communication course and planned to take up law next.
Following her arrest, Myles was branded as an NPA guerrilla by soldiers and charged with illegal possession of firearms.
Grace and husband, Lloyd, visited Myles at the Negros Oriental Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.
Myles, Grace said, expressed concern for her safety in jail. “She was scared,” said Grace. “While she is in the hands of authorities, the tension would be there,” she said.
Grace also revealed receiving a death threat through Facebook. It read: “You NPA are animals. May the bullet find you.”
Grace said she didn’t take the threat lightly and planned to seek help from the Commission on Human Rights and other agencies to keep her daughter safe.