KARAPATAN human rights alliance assailed the court’s denial of bail to community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and development worker Marielle Domequil.
Frenchie Mae and Marielle were arrested with three others—human rights worker Alexander Philip Abinguna, Bayan Muna-Eastern Visayas staff Mira Legion and People Surge spokesperson Marissa Cabaljao—on February 7, 2020, in Tacloban City.
Their arrest was part of a massive crackdown by the Duterte regime on progressive organizations in various regions.
Collectively known as the Tacloban 5, Frenchie Mae, Marielle andAlexander were charged with fabricated cases of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, while Mira and Marissa were charged with illegal possession of firearms.
In addition, Frenchie Mae and Marielle were also slapped with trumped-up charges of violating the law against terrorist financing, for which they were unjustly convicted on January 22, 2026. They had filed a motion to be released on bail pending their appeal.
“This decision is another perplexing ruling by the court,” said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay.
“As in its unjust conviction of Frenchie Mae and Marielle for terrorism financing, the court completely disregarded an earlier Court of Appeals that decimated the red-tagging of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) of the two activists.
The Court of Appeals found no evidence linking Frenchie Mae and Marielle to the CPP or its military arm, the NPA, and said “measures to counter terrorism must not be done without due process, and at the expense of individuals, groups and civil society organizations that are engaged in the promotion and defense of human rights.”
In contrast, the Tacloban court that convicted Frenchie Mae and Marielle and denied their motion for bail, preferred to trust the word of “rebel returnees,” individuals of dubious integrity and credibility, who serve as witnesses against activists.
“The uphill battle for the release of Frenchie Mae and Marielle continues,” said Palabay.
“Earlier, double murder charges against Frenchie Mae that were filed against her in August 2025 to prolong her unjust detention were dismissed by the Laoang Regional Trial Court Branch 21. Her and Marielle’s acquittal on bogus charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives also underscored the police and military’s rotten modus of planting evidence to justify the arrest and detention of activists targeted for persecution.”
Almost half of some 700 political prisoners in the Philippines are facing trumped-up IPFE charges, while up to 227 mass leaders and activists have been falsely charged with violating anti-terror laws, with 30 of them currently detained.
“We stand solidly with Frenchie Mae, Marielle, their families and colleagues in their continuing pursuit of justice,” said Palabay. “We denounce the State’s malevolent use of false witnesses, its reliance on planted evidence and perjured testimonies and its weaponization of terror laws to crush dissent.”
