Journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio convicted of terror financing

This is a developing story.

TACLOBAN, Philippines – The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 45 of Tacloban City, Leyte, on Thursday, January 22, convicted journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and lay worker Marielle Domequil in their terrorism financing case but acquitted them in their illegal possession of firearms and explosives case.

“Today, Judge Georgina Perez of RTC Branch 45 chose to prolong the suffering of Ate Maye, Ate Frenchie, our family, and fellow human rights workers,” said Domequil’s sister, Kyle, who is also the convenor and spokesperson of the Free Tacloban 5 Network.

The network said in a statement on Facebook: “We, the Free Tacloban 5 Network, reject this ruling and condemn the state’s continued use of the courts as instruments of political persecution. We stand with Frenchie and Marielle, with their families and communities, and with all political prisoners under the Marcos Jr. administration — now 761 strong as of February 2025.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday also condemned the guilty verdict and the harsh 12- to 18-year prison sentence handed down to Cumpio, and called on authorities to immediately free her and stop targeting the media.
 
“This absurd verdict shows that the various pledges made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to uphold press freedom are nothing but empty talk,” said CPJ Asia-Pacific director Beh Lih Yi.

“Although the journalist was cleared on the charge of illegal possession of firearms, the ruling underscores the lengths that Philippine authorities are willing to go to silence critical reporting. The Philippines must free Frenchie Mae Cumpio without conditions and stop criminalizing journalists.”

Cumpio and Domequil were arrested on February 7, 2020, at the office of alternative news outlet Eastern Vista in Tacloban City, together with rights advocates Alexander Philip Abinguna, Mira Legion, and Marissa Cabaljao. They are collectively referred to as the “Tacloban 5.”

According to their legal counsel, Legion and Cabaljao are out on bail, while Abinguna’s side of the cases has yet to progress. At present, only Cumpio and Domequil received judgment on their cases.

In 2020, authorities accused Cumpio and Domequil of being members of an “identified Communist Terrorist Group,” and upon serving a search warrant at the Eastern Vista office, claimed that they discovered a firearm, a fragmentation grenade, and a Communist Party of the Philippines flag there.

Days before the arrest, Cumpio informed alternative news network Altermidya that unidentified men had been patrolling Eastern Vista’s office. In 2021, while already detained, authorities filed a terrorism financing complaint against the Tacloban 5.

Cumpio, who is at the center of the cases, was also accused of participating in an ambush that resulted in the deaths of two soldiers in January 2020. 

A Reporters Without Borders (RSF) investigation in July 2025 revealed that the accusations were supported by the testimony of an “alleged former rebel” — turned army auxiliary — who claimed Cumpio was a rebel recruiter and was present during an ambush on soldiers in Northern Samar.

“Attempts to apprehend the journalist failed as not only was her name misspelled, but she had already been in detention for months due to the first case,” the RSF said in their report.

In June 2025, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan had called Cumpio’s situation a “travesty of justice,” noting that the young journalist would have already spent as much time in detention as she would have in prison if she were found guilty.

Cumpio was Eastern Vista’s executive director, and for most of her career, she was known for covering issues such as the killing of farmers and land-grabbing in Leyte’s neighboring provinces.

Domequil was a member of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and has on many occasions advocated for the rights of farmers and peasant workers in Eastern Visayas.

Several media groups have lambasted the Rodrigo Duterte administration for its crackdown on activists and media workers like Cumpio. At present, international media networks have called out the Marcos administration and the justice system for long delays in the cases of detained journalists. – with a report from Lian Buan/Rappler.com