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January 23, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — After six years of preventive imprisonment, journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and lay worker Marielle Domequil have been convicted by a Tacloban court, a move condemned by human rights groups and organizations.
On January 22, the Tacloban City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 45 Judge handed down a minimum 12 to 18 years sentence to 26-year-old Cumpio and 28-year-old Domequil for alleged links to the New People's Army in 2019.
While the court convicted them on terrorism financing charges, it acquitted both of illegal firearms possession.
The ruling follows a six-year detention period since their February 2020 arrest—a raid that human rights advocates contend was a retaliatory measure for Cumpio’s reporting on military misconduct in Eastern Visayas.
What happened before? Cumpio and Domequil were initially arrested on Feb. 7, 2020, following a police raid in Tacloban City based on allegations of illegal possession of firearms and membership in the New People's Army.
During the raid, authorities seized a cash box containing P557,360. Subsequently, the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group requested that this money be forfeited to the government.
The Manila RTC sided with the police, ruling 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.
However, the Court of Appeals reversed the Manila RTC decision, saying that the Anti-Money Laundering Council failed to designate Cumpio and Domequil as terrorists.
RELATED: CA voids forfeiture case vs journalist Cumpio, activist Domequil
Despite the reversal of this decision by the Court of Appeals, the Tacloban court still convicted the pair, which the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) described as “disturbing.”
Citing the Court of Appeals ruling, NUPL said that there was no legal or factual basis to forfeit the money seized from the two accused, which authorities had earlier linked to alleged terrorism financing.
“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.
The lawyer group also said that it will challenge the conviction through “appropriate legal remedies.”
What did the court find? The court convicted Cumpio and Domequil for violating Section 8(ii) of Republic Act No. 10168, also known as the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.
They were sentenced to an indeterminate prison term ranging from 12 years, 5 months and 11 days (minimum) to 18 years, 8 months, and 1 day (maximum), along with a fine of P500,000.00 each.
The court found that the prosecution successfully established all three elements required for a conviction under Section 8(ii) of RA 10168:
a. The offender is not an accomplice under Section 6 or accessory under Section 7;
b. The offender makes available any property or funds or financial services or other related services; and
c. The recipient of the property, funds, or financial or related services is a designated person or organization.
The court concluded that the prosecution successfully established all three elements required for a conviction.
The court said that based on the prosecution’s evidence, the two accused did not merely act as accomplices or accessories but were shown to have directly provided cash and various supplies, including ammunition, to members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in Catbalogan City in March 2019.
This was a time when the CPP-NPA had already been designated as a terrorist organization, which was repeatedly pointed out in exhibits.
“Thus, at the time the two accused provided cash and supplies to its members, the organization was already domestically recognized or identified as a terrorist group. These facts collectively satisfy all the elements of Violation of Section 8(ii) of Republic Act No. 10168,” the court’s ruling read.
It added that established jurisprudence recognizes that proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not require absolute certainty or the exclusion of all possible error, but only that level of evidence which, after careful examination, creates moral certainty of the accused’s guilt in an impartial mind.
What were they accused of? The information against Domequil and Cumpio stated that in March 2019 in San Andres, Catbalogan City, Samar, the accused allegedly conspired and acted together in knowingly and unlawfully providing funds and logistical supplies, including ammunition, to members of the CPP-NPA, which had been designated as a terrorist organization, thereby “prejudicing the government.”
