Community journalist convicted of terror financing

A regional trial court yesterday convicted community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and co-accused Mariel Domequil of terror financing, but acquitted them for illegal possession of firearms and explosives for lack of strong evidence and inconsistencies of witnesses during trial.

- By MIRIAM DESACADA

Already in prison for six years, they face at least another six years in detention. Cumpio and lay worker Domequil broke down in tears and hugged each other as the guilty verdict was read.

Cumpio, 26, is the first Filipina journalist to be prosecuted under terror financing laws, which defense lawyer Julianne Agpalo said have become the government's “weapon of choice” for silencing dissent.

Another counsel for the defense, Norberto Palomino, said at a news conference that they will file a motion for reconsideration before the RTC Branch 45 presided over by Judge Georgina Uy-Perez, among other legal remedies, within the 15-day reglementary period, and will also ask for bail for their temporary liberty.

Tight security measures were implemented inside and around the court, as protest activites outside were monitored by authorities.

Cumpio and Domequil were immediately brought back to the facility where they have been detained since their arrest in February 2020.

Another defense lawyer, Norberto Robel Jr., asserted that their team also has merits to argue before the higher court.

In a copy of the decision seen by AFP, the court said it was convinced by the testimony of former rebels who said the pair had provided the New People's Army (NPA), a designated terrorist group, with cash, arms and fabric for clothing.

The Samar-Leyte region that is home to Tacloban is one of the last remaining operating areas of the Maoist insurgency.

Both Cumpio and her advocates have insisted she was a victim of "redtagging," in which the government links its critics to the communist forces to silence them.

Tacloban 5