Jailing Frenchie Mae Cumpio and the Tacloban 5

After waiting 5 years in jail without trial, community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and church worker Marielle Domeguil were found guilty of terrorist financing. This ruling has been denounced by many human rights groups as unfair and is meant to intimidate journalists and activists from being critical of the government.

Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Mariel Domequil are part of the Tacloban 5, which includes activists Marissa Cabaljao, Mira Legion, and Alexander Philip Abinguna, who are involved in human rights and environmental issues. They were detained on February 7, 2020 on unsubstantiated charges of possessing weapons and explosives and of terrorist financing. The five accused individuals accuse the military of planting evidence, a tactic used several times against activists as an excuse to jail them.

Here is an excerpt of a statement by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (https://nujp.org/statement-a-partial-victory-and-a-promise-to-keep-figh…):

"The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemns the conviction of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and lay worker Marielle Domequil in the Terrorism Financing case against them...

...Her case has been emblematic of the challenged state of press freedom, and more broadly of freedom of speech and expression, in the Philippines and her conviction does not bode well for the media’s ability to report on the issues that Frenchie did without fear of reprisal and retribution."

Here is an excerpt of a statement by The Committee to Protect Journalists (https://cpj.org/2026/01/cpj-condemns-absurd-prison-sentence-of-up-to-18…):

"The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday condemned the harsh 12- to 18-year prison sentence handed down to Philippine journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio after she was found guilty of financing terrorism, and called on authorities to immediately free her and stop targeting journalists.

'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.'”

REFERENCES
"Philippine Protestant bishops condemn conviction of journalist, church worker" by LICAS News
https://philippines.licas.news/2026/01/27/philippine-protestant-bishops…

"‘A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE’: Altermidya condemns the guilty verdict on Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s case" a statement by Altermidya
https://www.altermidya.net/a-miscarriage-of-justice-altermidya-condemns…

"Groups Angered By Guilty Verdict Vs. Frenchie Mae, Marielle" by Viggo Surmago for Bulatlat
https://www.bulatlat.com/2026/01/23/groups-angered-by-guilty-verdict-vs…

"Free Press Unlimited and Partners Condemn Conviction of Frenchie Mae Cumpio Based on Flawed Evidence" by Bob Younge for Free Press Unlimited
https://www.freepressunlimited.org/en/current/fpu-and-partners-condemn-…

"Filipino Journalist Gets Prison in Case Seen as Attack on Free Press" by Jason Gutierrez for The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/world/asia/philippines-cumpio-journa…