Philippine journalist found guilty of financing terrorism

A Filipina journalist has been found guilty of financing terrorism and sentenced to at least 12 years in jail, in what press freedom groups called a "travesty of justice".

Frenchie Mae Cumpio, 26, was arrested in February 2020 after troops raided her boarding house in the middle of the night and allegedly found a hand grenade, firearm, and communist flag in her bed.

Rights groups had said the charges were fabricated and that Cumpio was red-tagged - labelled a subversive - for her reporting, which criticised the police and military.

Observers say that red-tagging of journalists and activists intensified under the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, who waged a bloody war on drugs from 2016 to 2022.

On Thursday, after six years in prison without trial, Cumpio was acquitted of charges related to the illegal possession of firearms and explosives, but convicted on a terrorism financing charge.

She faces 12 years behind bars. Her former roommate, Marielle Domequil, was also convicted and handed the same sentence. The two broke down in tears and hugged each other as the court's decision was read, AFP news agency reported.

"We are deeply concerned about the implications of this conviction, considering that there are many other cases, and I would say, trumped up cases, of financing terrorism that are still being prosecuted all over the country," Atty Josa Deinla, one of Cumpio's lawyers, told the BBC.

"The sad reality is that this decision carries grievous consequences for community journalism, because it's really the community journalist - the ones on the fringes, the ones who don't belong to the dominant media organisations, that really bring to light the conditions, especially in rural countryside, where the poorest people live."

Prior to her arrest, Cumpio regularly reported on abuses by the military and police in the Philippines' Eastern Visayas region, through articles for news site Eastern Vista - of which she is former director - and a show she hosted on radio station Aksyon Radyo-Tacloban DYVL.

Her case has drawn attention from a coalition of press freedom organisations and NGOs, who say the charges against her have been "fabricated" and her treatment in detention "inhumane".

Beh Lih Yi, Asia-Pacific director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, condemned Thursday's court decision.

"This absurd verdict shows that the various pledges made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to uphold press freedom are nothing but empty talk," she said.

"The ruling underscores the lengths that Philippine authorities are willing to go to silence critical reporting."

Independent media outlet Altermidya issued a statement on Thursday morning, local time, condemning the decision as "a miscarriage of justice".

"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," the statement said.

The term 'Tacloban five' is used to refer to to Cumpio, Domequil, and three others who were charged alongside them in Tacloban, a poor coastal city in the Philippines' central region. Their cases are yet to be resolved.

"The decision is a grave injustice and is a serious peril to the already dire state of press freedom and free expression in the Philippines."

The Philippines' International Association of Women in Radio and Television also issued a statement following the conviction, which it described it as "a blatant act of state-sponsored silencing".

"The conviction of Frenchie Mae for terror financing is a travesty that seeks to legitimise the silencing of women who dare to speak truth to power, and her sisters from our community of women in media will not rest until she is fully vindicated and her name is cleared of these baseless charges," the statement said.

"This sends a chilling message: that documenting the struggles of the poor has become a punishable offense."

The Philippines is one of the most dangerous countries for reporters, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF) data.

Community journalists like Cumpio are especially vulnerable as they find themselves in the crosshairs of long-established political dynasties and warlords.

In 2009, a political clan in the southern province of Maguindanao massacred 58 people, mostly journalists, to stop the clan's rival from filing an election challenge.

With additional reporting from Virma Simonette and Joel Guinto