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‘No financial restitution or acquittal can compensate for the years stolen from Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Marielle Domequil,’ says the College Editors Guild of the Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — Human rights activists and youth groups reiterated their denunciation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 following the conviction of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and humanitarian worker Marielle Domequil on Thursday, January 22, saying the ruling has robbed the two of their youth.
Cumpio, 26, and Domequil, 28, have been detained for almost six years over terrorism financing, and illegal possession of firearms and explosives charges. Though cleared of firearms and explosives charges, they were sentenced to 12-18 years of imprisonment for terrorism financing.
Karapatan secretary general Christina Palabay said the conviction of Cumpio and Domequil was a “deliberate plot” by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the Anti-terrorism Council to silence dissent and punish those who engage in journalism, humanitarian work, and community organizing.
“For nearly six years, Frenchie and Marielle suffered prolonged detention, multiple cases, frozen assets, and relentless red-tagging, all without credible and independent evidence,” Palabay said. “This conviction treats lies as proof,” she added.
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines also slammed “Duterte’s anti-terror laws and Marcos Jr.’s proliferation of them,” saying no reparation can make up for the years stolen from Cumpio and Domequil.
Here are the other statements from other groups:
Concerned Artists of the Philippines
“This is how a culture of impunity sustains itself: by robbing young people of their freedom and prime years, while those responsible for systemic plunder, corruption, and abuse continue to live comfortably and untouched. The punishment is the process. The cruelty is the point, and the norm.”
“The Concerned Artists of the Philippines asserts: journalism is not terrorism. Community work is not terrorism. Jail the corrupt, not the truth-tellers! Free Frenchie Mae, free Marielle! Junk the Anti-terror Law, free the Tacloban 5!”
Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (Philippines)
“Cumpio and Domequil are being persecuted for serving the marginalized, the peasant communities in Eastern Visayas, one of the country’s poorest regions. They are victims of the government’s conflation of independent and critical voices with the armed insurgency, which it further conflates with terrorism. In fighting the insurgency, the government has been undermining Filipinos’ basic freedoms and rights and the country’s democracy itself.”
“How can the court believe witnesses that are supposedly rebel returnees but who are actually captives or under the payroll of the military or both? This ruling is a bad precedent for social movement activists and civil society personnel targeted with terrorism financing charges, as it upholds the false accusation that Frenchie Mae and Marielle delivered financial and logistical support to the New People’s Army on March 29, 2019, the NPA’s anniversary.”
UP Diliman University Freshie Council’s Post
“Malinaw na ang pa-ulit-ulit na pan-re-redtag ng estado sa mga alagad ng midya na may layunin lamang na maghayag ng katotohanan bilang 4th estate ng lipunan — na siyang dapat nagbibigay ng kritisismo sa gobyerno, at sa pagpapanagot sa kanila sa kanilang wantusawang pagpuwersa ng kanilang mga pasismong pamamaraan.”
“Para sa isang midyang malaya at mapagpalaya, patuloy nating ipapanawagan ang defend press freedom. Ang isang tunay na malayang midya ay walang anumang bakas ng panunupil ng estado at ng mga bayolenteng aparato nito.”
(The repeated red-tagging of media practitioners by the state is clearly aimed solely at exposing the truth as the fourth estate of society, which is supposed to provide criticism of the government, and holding them accountable through abusive, fascist methods.
For a free and liberating media, we will continue to call for the defense of press freedom. A truly free press bears no traces of state repression or its violent apparatus.)
UP Tacloban Volleyball Club
“Silang dalawa ang konkretong patunay na sinusupil ng estado ang mga estudyanteng matapang na isinisiwalat ang bulok na sistema na mayroon ang Pilipinas. Imbes na gawan ng solusyon ang mga isyung panlipunan na kanilang ipinaglalaban, sila ay tinanggalan ng boses at karapatan.”
(The two of them are concrete proof that the state is suppressing students who bravely expose the Philippines’ rotten system. Instead of addressing the social issues they fight for, their voices and rights are being taken away.) – Rappler.com
