Altermidya Network welcomes the Court of Appeals’ decision to void the civil forfeiture case filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) against community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and lay worker Marielle Domequil. The case is in relation to the PHP557,360 confiscated by the raiding team when the two were arrested in 2020. The decision comes after the National Union of People’s Lawyers, who represent Frenchie and Marielle, appealed to overturn the ruling of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18, which granted the forfeiture in 2022.
The cash seized during the pre-dawn police and military raid on February 7, 2020 in Tacloban City was wrongfully claimed as funds to support the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP-NPA). It was also used as a basis for the ‘terrorism financing’ case filed against the two. The money, however, were funds raised for the Stand with Samar-Leyte campaign, in support of small-scale farmers in Eastern Visayas affected by calamities.
The CA’s ruling affirms the very real dangers of arbitrarily tagging journalists, human rights defenders, and activists as ‘terrorists.’
The complainants for the civil forfeiture case in fact produced two witnesses who were supposed ‘rebel surrenderees’ to testify against Frenchie and Marielle. In the end, however, the CA found that “there is a dearth of reason to believe that the respondents-appellants were or are connected to the CPP-NPA.”
With the positive decision by the CA, we renew our demand to immediately drop the other cases against Frenchie and Marielle, specifically the terrorism financing and illegal firearms possession. We reiterate that government’s persistent use of terror laws and unexamined witness accounts to persecute journalists and activists is a dangerous practice that criminalizes dissent and violates our fundamental rights to free expression and the people’s right to information.
As the promulgation for the charges against Frenchie and Marielle nears, we call on the media and human rights community to renew our resounding call: Free Frenchie Mae Cumpio! Drop the charges against Tacloban 5! #
