Support for journo Frenchie Mae Cumpio grows, groups slam 6th year of detention

The case sets a dangerous legal precedent. It signals that reporting on militarization, development projects, or marginalized communities can be recast as terrorism.

MANILA — Calls to release detained journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and church worker Marielle Domequil strengthened as the media community and various groups slammed their sixth year in detention since their arrest on February 7, 2020.

In an open letter, 92 media groups, press freedom watchdogs, and human rights organizations urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to fulfill his promise to protect press freedom, as the country holds the ASEAN chairship this year.

“The reversal of the unjust conviction of [the accused] is necessary to prove the Philippines’ commitment to press freedom, free expression, and democracy,” a part of the letter reads.

The open letter was initiated by the Free Frenchie coalition composed of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Free Press Unlimited, Reporters Without Borders as well as the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and Altermidya.

Cumpio and Domequil have remained at the Tacloban City Jail following the Tacloban City Regional Trial Court Branch 45 decision convicting the two for terrorism financing on January 22. The same court, however, acquitted them for charges related to illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

TIMELINE: The prolonged detention of Filipino journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio

On Friday, February 6, their legal team filed a motion for reconsideration before the same Tacloban court, seeking the reversal of the judgement. 

Lawyers argued that the prosecution failed to establish all the essential elements of the offense beyond reasonable doubt, particularly the valid and operative designation of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army as terrorist organizations and the “reliable and independently corroborated proof” of the former rebels’ allegations. 

Read: How ‘ex-rebels’ testimonies lead to conviction of Cumpio, Domequil

The National Union of Lawyers of the Philippines also filed a manifestation before the Court of Appeals (CA) on the same day in response to the motion for reconsideration filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in the civil forfeiture case against Cumpio and Domequil.

Photo by Dominic Gutoman/Bulatlat

Julianne Agpalo of NUPL maintained that the over P500,000 confiscated from the accused’s possession during their arrest was illegally seized, informing the appellate court that the subject cash was not included in the “questionable” search warrant.

Not isolated

In an act of solidarity, the Movement for Media Safety Philippines (MMSP), a coalition of media organizations published a pooled editorial February 6, stressing that Cumpio’s case is not isolated and citing the case of journalist Deo Montesclaros, who faced a similar terrorism financing charge after reporting on the adverse impacts of development projects in Cagayan Valley.

“The case sets a dangerous legal precedent. It signals that reporting on militarization, development projects, or marginalized communities can be recast as terrorism,” a part of the editorial reads.

Avon Ang, national coordinator of the People’s Alternative Media Network (AlterMidya), asserted that Marcos Jr. has the power to free the accused.

Read: Aquino finally acts on Morong 43 case 

But despite having the capability to effect change, the coalition emphasized the president’s failure to break the mechanisms that allow prosecutions to continue.

Countdown

Rowena Paraan of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, who also represented the MMSP, shared in a press conference on Friday that media groups under their coalition wanted to create a countdown in order to keep the case of Cumpio, including her co-accused Domequil, to the public consciousness. 

She recalled a similar initiative taken after the killing of Pagadian-based journalist Edgar Damalerio in 2002, where media organizations agreed to put a countdown on newspapers on the number of days the perpetrators had not been caught.

“Tacloban is too far. Our tendencies, especially for media outlets in Manila, are that if we don’t usually see it, we tend to forget it, and we have a lot of coverage here,” Paraan said in Filipino.

Starting this through publications on media outfits’ social media pages, she said, would be a significant start. (AMU, RVO)

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