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A support group for political prisoners criticized the court’s basis of denying the motion, particularly the so-called “potential” assistance to terrorist organizations.
“Awarding her with the 2026 UNESCO’s Cano Prize would be a clarion call for the Philippines and other countries to cease the rampant criminalization and undue imprisonment of journalists."
Media workers, press freedom advocates, and human rights defenders troop to the Department of Justice to condemn the 6th year of imprisonment of Tacloban 5, including community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights workers Mariel Domequil and Alexander Philip Abinguna.
The case sets a dangerous legal precedent. It signals that reporting on militarization, development projects, or marginalized communities can be recast as terrorism.
Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s continued detention is not only an injustice against one journalist. It is an assault on press freedom, community journalism, and the public’s right to know. When journalism is criminalized, entire communities are silenced –and democracy is further diminished.
The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) issued public statements on January 26 rejecting the conviction and urging its reversal.
Cumpio and Domequil were targeted because of their efforts to improve the lives of the poor people in Eastern Visayas.
Hindi pa tapos ang laban kahit nagdesisyon na ang korte. Dapat lang na magsampa ng apela. Ituloy ang pangagampanya para sa kalayaan. Huwag hayaang mabulok sa bilangguan ang mga walang kasalanan.
“It’s based on these self-serving testimonies of these military assets, whose credibility in the first place should be questioned."
The conviction went against a previous decision in October 2025 by the Court of Appeals which voided the civil forfeiture case against Cumpio and Domequil.
The conviction went against a previous decision in October 2025 by the Court of Appeals which voided the civil forfeiture case against Cumpio and Domequil.
Cumpio’s conviction would set a dangerous precedent for journalists speaking truth to power.
Cumpio’s remaining charges highlighted how the government was throwing accusations against a community journalist who was just doing her job.
Karapatan stated that these legal victories not only granted freedom and protection to activists, but also emphasized the resistance against abuses and weaponization of counter-terror laws.
The NUPL viewed the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act as laws “to punish those who stand with [the people],” recounting many cases of human rights workers who had been slapped with these cases to silence them.
Regional Trial Court Branch 21 noted the “glaring disparity and difference regarding the identity of the person named in the complaint and the person arrested."
In a 27-page ruling on October 29, Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas Jr. stated that AMLC can only pursue civil forfeiture if funds or properties are proven to be tied to financing terrorism crime.
The case of Cumpio illustrates the painstakingly slow judicial process on harassment suits filed against human rights defenders.
The Commission reminded the state of its obligations under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and its Optional Protocol, which require humane treatment of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and safeguard against inhumane or degrading conditions.
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