AFTER ALMOST SIX years in detention awaiting trial, community journalist and former campus editor French Mae Cumpia was convicted of financing terrorism by a Tacloban Court last January 22, a ruling that has drawn condemnation from various student publications, rights groups, and media outfits nationwide.
Cumpio, alongside human rights missionary Marielle Domeguil, was sentenced to 12 to 18 years in prison following their arrest, while being acquitted of separate charges including illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Several press groups have characterized the ruling as a “blow to press freedom and a disservice to the now fragile terrain of community and campus journalism.”
The journalist was arrested around February 2020, after a police raid in an office in Tacloban City where she was staying. Authorities claimed to have recovered firearms, grenades, and ammunition during the operation and later accused her of financing terrorism after seizing pounds of cash which she reiterated was for a ‘fundraising campaign.’
Cumpio and her lawyers, along with other press advocates have denied such allegations and maintained her innocence, noting that the raid and subsequent charges were linked’ to her work as a journalist covering military operations and human rights concerns especially the issues of farmers in Eastern Visayas.
In a unity statement released on January 21, student publications nationwide called for the immediate acquittal of Cumpia and her co-accused Domequil, alleging that the case poses serious implications on the growing peril around student journalism and press freedom. They assert that the ‘prolonged pre-trial detention’ reflected a broader social concern about the use of counterterrorism laws against journalists.
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) stated that the decision reinforces fears that terrorism-related charges may be used in ways that ‘discourage critical reporting.’ The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) likewise condemned the ruling, maintaining that it was ‘unjust’ and that the issue calls for the need to continue challenging the use of terrorism against media workers.
International press freedom organizations such as the Reporters Without Borders (RWB) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) denounced the conviction as well, calling it a ‘miscarriage of justice’ and urged authorities to uphold press freedom and respect human rights.
They also described it as ‘draconian, encouraging Philippine authorities to work on reforms to prevent the persisting suppression of human rights advocates and journalists under the anti-terror legislation.
At the height of the verdict, student publications have expressed willingness to persist in covering the case, as they call it a ‘test’ of the country’s commitment to press freedom and theprotection of young journalists. Journalist groups have also expressed that the decision “does not end concerns about the case.”
Student publications likewise maintained that sustained reporting and vigilance remain important, stressing that the implication of the case raises broader press freedom issues and the safety of community and campus journalists nationwide.