Local and overseas journalists’ groups, along with church people, academics, and progressive organizations, strongly condemned the conviction of Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Marielle Domequil in the “terror financing” case. The two were sentenced on January 22 to 12 to 18 years in prison and fined ₱500,000 each.

Judge Georgina Perez of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 45 in Tacloban City handed down the ruling. Cumpio and Domequil are set to be transferred to the women’s correctional facility in Mandaluyong City. Their lawyers are preparing to file a motion for reconsideration and for bail, and they plan to appeal the unjust verdict at the Court of Appeals.

Cumpio and Domequil were concurrently acquitted in the separate case of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Cumpio is a journalist, an Eastern Vista executive director and an Altermidya contributor, while Domequil is a Rural Missionaries of the Philippines staff member.

“We are outraged by the clear injustice of the court decision amid glaring evidence that the charges against Frenchie Mae, Marielle Domequil, and the rest of Tacloban 5 are all fabricated,” Altermidya said on the day the verdict was handed down.

The group called the ruling a “miscarriage of justice” and a “serious peril” to the already dire state of press freedom and free expression in the Philippines.

It said the decision affirms the Marcos regime’s duplicity for repeatedly promising to uphold press freedom but continues to weaponize the law against journalists and other dissenting voices.

“The decision legitimizes the use, abuse, and misuse of anti-terror laws against civilians,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

International condemnation

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called the ruling “absurd” and slammed Ferdinand Marcos Jr for his “hollow promises” on press freedom.

“The Philippines must immediately release Frenchie Mae Cumpio unconditionally and stop criminalizing journalists,” CPJ Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi said. The decision to convict Cumpio is ominous because she is the world’s first journalist to be found guilty of financing terrorism. It is a dangerous precedent that could be used against journalists in other countries.

Lih Yi traveled to Tacloban to attend the January 22 promulgation. She joined other journalists from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, AlterMidya, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Free Press Unlimited (FPU). Together they form the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), which has long been calling for Cumpio’s release.

“The sentencing of Frenchie Mae Cumpio is a stark illustration of the authorities’ disregard for journalists’ most basic rights,” the MFC said in its January 22 statement. “As an international NGO coalition, we remain fully committed to securing her release.”

Protests

On the day of the promulgation, journalist organizations, human rights defenders, and church people held a protest outside the RTC in Tacloban City. The night before, a candle-lighting activity took place in front of the Redemptorist Church in the city to assert the innocence of the Tacloban 5.

In Quezon City, another protest was held in front of the Commission on Human Rights on January 22 to denounce the unjust verdict. A day earlier, progressive groups marched to the Department of Justice to demand the immediate release of Cumpio, Domequil, and Chakoy Abinguena.

“It’s heartbreaking and infuriating, but we will continue the fight. We will continue to serve the poor,” Marielle’s brother Kyle Domequil said.

“We will continue the struggle for truth,” Cumpio and Domequil declared after the verdict was read to them.