DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Global press freedom advocates gathered here on June 16 to demand the immediate release of detained journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio who was 21 when she was arrested in 2020 on charges of illegal possession of firearms and terrorist financin
Human rights groups and press coalitions have long condemned the charges as trumped-up and intended to criminalize her work as a journalist for an alternative media.
Cumpio was the executive director of Eastern Vista, an alternative media outlet under the Altermidya network. Her reporting focused on militarization, human rights violations, and climate injustice in Eastern Visayas.
“[She is] the only detained journalist right now in the Philippines… for doing her work as a journalist. And without her being freed from prison, the administration will not show its willingness to change this [press freedom in the country],” Aleksandra Bielakowska, Advocacy Manager at Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Asia-Pacific Bureau, said.
The international coalition — composed of representatives from RSF, Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) — traveled to Leyte to meet with Cumpio in person but were blocked by prison authorities, who cited “paperwork issues.”
This was despite the delegation having sent formal requests and letters months in advance.
CPJ Asia Program Director Beh Lih Yi said they were eventually able to briefly see Cumpio and exchange words of support from about five meters away, shouting across the distance under the full watch of several prison guards.
“She is really emblematic of the criminalization of journalism in the Philippines and across the world… We make it very, very clear from the start of her arrest that she should not be imprisoned. She has not been convicted of any crime,” Yi said.
The group emphasized that the denial of their visit was only one of several systemic violations that have characterized Cumpio’s prolonged detention.
According to RSF, Cumpio has also been denied timely medical care despite developing asthma in detention. Confidential legal documents are also reportedly examined by guards, and lawyer-client visits are monitored or recorded.
Bielakowska compared the treatment of Cumpio to similar tactics used by authoritarian regimes.
“It’s something that I have seen in other countries in the past where terrorism, subversion, and so on are used against journalists to make sure that they don’t speak up with their voice and they don’t report on the abuses of the authorities,” she said.
She added that while the Marcos administration claims to support press freedom, Cumpio’s continued imprisonment tells a different story.
“We know that it started from the Duterte administration as a political decision, and it’s up to President Marcos to basically reverse it and show to the people that he really indeed wants to work for journalists, to support journalists no matter where they’re located. And that in the center of his mandate, is improving the situation in comparison to what happened with the Duterte administration.”
Jonathan de Santos, chairperson of NUJP, noted that Cumpio’s case is being heard in a special court for terrorism-related charges, where hearings are held more frequently than in regular courts.
“At any rate, the case is expected to terminate soon. So we’re hopeful that within the year there will be a good petition of that…around autumn time hopefully.”
During the visit, the press groups also received two handwritten letters from Cumpio and her co-accused, one of which was addressed to United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan. The letters will be hand-delivered to Khan in Geneva at an upcoming UN forum.
As the Philippines continues to rank among the most dangerous countries for journalists in Southeast Asia, press freedom groups warn that high-profile cases like Cumpio’s are indicators of deeper democratic erosion.
“There is no democracy without press freedom. Until she’s not released from prison, there will be no improvements,” Bielakowska said. (davaotoday.com)
frenchie mae cumpio, Media, RSF
