Philippine journalist given long jail sentence over ‘fabricated’ terrorism charge

A court in the Philippines convicted journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio of financing terrorism and sentenced her to at least 12 years in prison in a ruling that has sparked outrage among press freedom advocates.

Cumpio, a 26-year-old reporter from the central Philippines, was arrested in February 2020 after soldiers stormed her boarding house during a late-night raid. Authorities claimed to have discovered a grenade, a gun, and a communist flag inside her room. Her lawyers said she was being targeted with “trumped up” cases.

In a handwritten note sent from prison last year, Cumpio dismissed the case against her as “a story that’s so absurd that if this was a class debate, you wouldn’t even try to rebut”.

open image in gallery

On Thursday, after spending nearly six years in detention without a trial, Cumpio was cleared of charges related to illegal possession of firearms and explosives. However, the court found her guilty of financing terrorism, a conviction that will keep her behind bars for at least 12 years.

Her former roommate, Marielle Domequil, received the same sentence.

According to AFP, the two women broke down in tears and embraced as the verdict was read out.

“We are deeply concerned about the implications of this conviction, considering that there are many other cases, and I would say, trumped up cases, of financing terrorism that are still being prosecuted all over the country,” Atty Josa Deinla, one of Cumpio’s lawyers, told the BBC.

“The sad reality is that this decision carries grievous consequences for community journalism, because it's really the community journalist – the ones on the fringes, the ones who don't belong to the dominant media organisations, that really bring to light the conditions, especially in rural countryside, where the poorest people live.”

Campaigners argue that Cumpio was targeted because of her reporting on alleged abuses by security forces, a practice known locally as “red-tagging”, where journalists and activists are accused of links to communist rebels and prosecuted. This tactic, observers say, became increasingly common during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, who led the country from 2016 to 2022.

In September last year, a group of 250 journalists from around the world urged the Philippine president to intervene in her case and work towards her freedom. The appeal was signed by veteran reporters spanning multiple continents – from the Philippines and the United States to Brazil, Kenya, Australia and Mongolia.

Before her arrest, Cumpio reported extensively on alleged military and police abuses in the Eastern Visayas region. She wrote for the online outlet Eastern Vista, where she previously served as director, and hosted a radio programme on Aksyon Radyo-Tacloban DYVL.

Her case has become a rallying point for local and international media organisations, which describe the charges as politically motivated and her detention conditions as “inhumane”.

“This absurd verdict shows that the various pledges made by president Ferdinand Marcos Jr to uphold press freedom are nothing but empty talk,” said Beh Lih Yi, Asia-Pacific director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

“The ruling underscores the lengths that Philippine authorities are willing to go to silence critical reporting.”

open image in gallery

Aleksandra Bielakowska, Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) Asia-Pacific Bureau Advocacy Manager, said in a statement: “We are appalled by this verdict. The RSF investigations and evidence presented in court by Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s lawyers clearly show how fabricated this case has been from the very beginning. Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s conviction represents a devastating failure on the part of the Philippine justice system and the authorities’ blatant disregard for press freedom.

“The Philippines should serve as an international example of protecting media freedom – not a perpetrator that red-tags, prosecutes and imprisons journalists simply for doing their work. This sentence only highlights the systemic issues in the country and the urgent need for comprehensive reforms.

“We renew our call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to act without delay to end this injustice and release Frenchie Mae Cumpio immediately. Without his decisive action, there will be no meaningful difference from previous administrations that showed no regard for upholding a free press.”

Earlier, Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, demanded accountability in the case of Cumpio, saying she was alarmed by the length of the journalist’s pretrial detention. The UN official met Cumpio during a prison visit in January 2024, and in May last year, her case was named among the One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” press freedom cases of the year.

Local independent media group Altermidya also condemned the ruling, calling it “a miscarriage of justice”.

“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,” the organisation said in a statement.

open image in gallery

The term “Tacloban Five” refers to Cumpio, Domequil and three others who were charged in the coastal city of Tacloban. The cases against the remaining defendants have yet to be resolved.

The International Association of Women in Radio and Television in the Philippines described the verdict as “a blatant act of state-sponsored silencing”.

“The conviction of Frenchie Mae for terror financing is a travesty that seeks to legitimise the silencing of women who dare to speak truth to power, and her sisters from our community of women in media will not rest until she is fully vindicated and her name is cleared of these baseless charges,” the statement said.

“This sends a chilling message: that documenting the struggles of the poor has become a punishable offence.”

According to Reporters Without Borders, the Philippines remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. Community reporters are particularly at risk, often clashing with entrenched political families and armed groups. In the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, the Philippines placed 116th among 180 countries and territories, with press conditions assessed as “difficult”.

The dangers of the profession were laid bare in 2009, when 58 people – most of them journalists – were murdered in the southern province of Maguindanao in an attack aimed at preventing a rival political clan from challenging an election result.