Rights groups are condemning the conviction of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio on January 22 as a "miscarriage of justice" stemming from a plot by the NTF-ELCAC to suppress independent journalism. She was sentenced to at least 12 years in prison alongside lay worker Marielle Domequil for allegedly funding the New People's Army in 2019, though both were acquitted on weapons charges.
On January 22, Judge Georgina Perez of the Regional Trial Court Branch 45 in Tacloban City sentenced 26-year-old Frenchie Mae Cumpio and 28-year-old lay worker Marielle Domequil to at least 12 years in prison for violating the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act in 2019 in Catbalogan, Samar. They were accused of delivering cash and providing logistical support to the New People's Army, but were acquitted on charges of illegal possession of firearms.
The two have endured more than six years of detention since their arrest in a February 2020 raid, which rights groups describe as punishment for Cumpio's reporting on military abuses in Eastern Visayas. The case has been viewed as a test for the Marcos administration's commitment to breaking from the previous government's use of terrorism charges against journalists.
"This conviction is a blatant affirmation of how the justice system is being weaponized through NTF-ELCAC's lies and persecution," said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of human rights alliance KARAPATAN. She noted that the acquittal on weapons charges confirms the accusations were fabricated from the outset.
Kyle Domequil, Marielle's sister and convenor of the Free Tacloban 5 Network, stated the verdict "prolongs the suffering" of the women and their families. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) called it an injustice that threatens media's ability to report without fear.
Internationally, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the decision. "We are appalled by this verdict," said RSF's Aleksandra Bielakowska. CPJ's Beh Lih Yi remarked that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s pledges on press freedom are empty. The case drew attention from the Clooney Foundation for Justice and a 2024 prison visit by UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan.
As of February 2025, the number of political prisoners under the Marcos Jr. administration stands at 761, according to the Free Tacloban 5 Network.
