Tacloban journo Frenchie Cumpio found guilty of terror financing

A 26-year-old Filipina community journalist has been found guilty of terror financing.

The Regional Trial Court Branch 45 of Tacloban City, Leyte on Thursday convicted 26-year-old broadcaster Frenchie Mae Cumpio and 28-year-old lay worker Marielle Domequil in their terrorism financing case and were sentenced to up to 18 years in prison.

Despite the decision, the two were acquitted of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Several civil groups have since condemned the decision.

"The verdict is an injustice, especially in light of a Court of Appeals reversal in the forfeiture case for the money confiscated in their arrest," the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines said.

"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," NUJP added, while encouraging the public and media to continue to monitor the case.

Women's rights group Gabriela calls the move a "miscarriage of justice."

"Today’s verdict is a gross miscarriage of justice that rewards the state’s machinery of lies and validates the systematic persecution of those who dare to speak truth to power. It also sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the work of fellow activists and human rights defenders," the group said.

Human rights alliance KARAPATAN also frowned upon the decision. "This conviction is a blatant affirmation of how the justice system is being weaponized through NTF-ELCAC's lies and persecution." 

The charges started from allegations that Cumpio and Domequil delivered cash and provided logistical support to the NPA in Catbalogan, Samar in 2019, which is a violation of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act. Rights groups say the move is meant to punish the journalist's coverage of military abuses in Eastern Visayas. 

The case has since caught global attention, including Amal Clooney's Clooney Foundation for Justice, international non-profit organization Reporters Without Borders, and even United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan.

As documented by Reporters Without Borders, Cumpio is the former director of news site Eastern Vista and hosted a radio show in Aksyon Radyo-Tacloban DYVL. 

According to their timeline, since February 2020, the two have been detained in Tacloban along with arrested activists and civil society members for "illegal possession of firearms."

In July 2020, new charges of murder and attempted murder were filed against Cumpio in a different court, while the charge of terrorism financing was added in October 2021.

Four years later, Khan visited Cumpio and her co-defendants at Tacloban prison, saying the case is a "travesty of justice."

In October 2025, the country's Court of Appeals dismissed Cumpio's civil forfeiture case related to terrorism financing, for lack of evidence in her alleged connection with terrorist groups. 
 
In November 2025, murder and attempted murder charges were dropped from Cumpio by the 21st Chamber of the Regional Trial Court of Laoang.

According to the RSF World Press Freedom Index, the Philippines is 116th out of 180 countries where the state of press freedom is “difficult.”