Local and overseas journalists’ groups, church people, academics, and progressive organizations, strongly condemned the conviction of journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and church worker Marielle Domequil in the “terrorism financing” case by the RTC Branch 45 in Tacloban City on January 22, 2026. The court ruled that the accused were guilty of “terrorism financing” and sentenced them to 18 years in prison and fined PHP 500,000 each.

“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,” Altermidya said on the day the verdict was handed down.

It said the decision affirms the Marcos regime’s duplicity for repeatedly promising to uphold press freedom but continues to weaponize the law against journalists and other dissenting voices.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said, “The decision legitimizes the use, abuse, and misuse of anti-terror laws against civilians.”

Sixteen foreign embassies, those of Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom on Friday expressed outrage over Cumpio’s conviction, the first Filipino journalist to be punished by the 2012 law on terrorism financing.

The embassies, which make up the Media Freedom Coalition Embassy Network, said in a joint statement that the Cumpio case decision was a “stark reminder of the challenges faced by journalists in pursuit of their vital work.”

Six years earlier, in 2020, Cumpio and Domequil were arrested in Tacloban city on the police’s allegation of illegal possession of firearms and membership in the New People’s Army. During the raid, the police seized a box containing P557,360. The Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) ruled that there was sufficient reason to believe the seized funds were linked to unlawful activity under the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.

A Court of Appeals reversed the Manila RTC’s decision, saying that the Anti-Money Laundering Council failed to designate the two accused as terrorists. Despite this, the RTC Branch 45 in Tacloban still pronounced them guilty of “terrorism financing”.

The National Union of People’s Lawyers said, “The appellate court expressly cautioned against the hasty labeling of human rights advocates as terrorists and emphasized that due process cannot be set aside in the name of national security. That ruling directly undermines the narrative used to justify the terrorism financing charge and raises serious questions about the basis of the terrorism financing charge,” the NUPL said.

“This and similar cases thus demonstrate how counter-terrorism laws can be stretched and weaponized to criminalize lawful, civilian work—turning journalism, humanitarian work, and advocacy into alleged acts of terrorism financing. From this injustice flow the grave implications that cannot be ignored,” it added.

Both Amnesty International Philippines and the International Press Institute said that the court ruling illustrates the weaponization of counterinsurgency laws in the country to silence members of the media, human rights defenders, and development workers.

The Tacloban court ruled that the Cumpio and Domequil were not guilty of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.