Court set to rule on Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s cases after nearly 6 years

CEBU, Philippines – The day for the promulgation of the terror financing and illegal possession of firearms and explosives cases against detained journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and lay worker Marielle Domequil is set for Thursday, January 22, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said on Tuesday, January 20.

This comes six years after Cumpio, Domequil and Alexander Philip Abinguna were arrested on February 7, 2020, at the office of alternative news outlet Eastern Vista in Tacloban City. Included in the arrest were Mira Legion, former KASAMA sa UP vice chairperson for the Visayas and Marissa Cabaljao of People’s Surge who are now out on bail.

Representatives of international media groups Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who were at the presser, called out the government for the delays in the judicial proceedings. 

“For nearly six years, Frenchie has been languishing in a detention facility. She was subjected to judicial harassment that was aimed solely to silence her and by extension, the whole journalistic community in the country,” RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau advocacy manager Aleksandra Bielakowska said.

In November 2024, four years after her arrest, Cumpio was able to take the witness stand after multiple delays caused by the absence of witnesses and prosecutors on different occasions. 

“Halos anim na taon na ang ninakaw ng gobyerno sa kanya, halos anim na taon na ipinagkait ng gobyerno na makasama ng pamilya,” Lala Cumpio, Frenchie’s mother, said in a message.

(The government stole almost six years of her life, six years that the government denied her the opportunity to be with her family.)

Cumpio and Domequil are expected to be at the Regional Trial Court Branch 45 in Tacloban City at around 8 am on January 22. 

Test for press freedom

“This trial is not only about one journalist. It’s a critical test for press freedom in the Philippines,” Bielakowska said.

The RSF representative explained that the state’s handling of Cumpio’s case has faced heavy scrutiny from the international community and human rights organizations who have called the constant delays in her case as a “travesty of justice” — a term also used by United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan to describe the situation.

For Bielakowska, a conviction would set a dangerous precedent for Filipino journalists who pursue stories in their communities.

“This is the tactic that we have been seeing in authoritarian regimes. In many authoritarian regimes, when the state is trying to drag away international attention from the case, they try to extend the proceedings in the court,” Bielakowska said.

Lawyer Josa Deinla of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) said the Philippines has seen an increase in counter-terrorism cases filed against development workers who, like journalists, work in vulnerable sectors.

“For years now, we’ve watched the state lean on counter-terrorism laws and measures, financing terrorism, terrorism and other related charges as a ready and convenient weapon against dissenters in this society,” Denila said.

Deinla, citing NUPL and the Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG)’s report on the misuse and abuse of counter-terrorism financing measures in the Philippines, said there was a 371% increase in terror financing complaints filed by the government in 2024.

“When you prosecute a journalist under a counter-terrorism framework, you do not just put her at risk, you send a message to every community journalist like [Cumpio] that reporting can cost you your freedom for many years,” the lawyer said. – Rappler.com