A Northern Samar court granted jailed journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s motion to quash the charges of murder and attempted murder but denied co-accused Alexander ‘Chakoy’ Abinguna the same reprieve.
The Laoang Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 21 said last Thursday, November 6, it grants Cumpio’s motion as a result of her “invalid arrest.”
On the two’s charge sheet, a certain Frenchie Armando Y Cupio was named respondent, leading the Court to decide there was “lack of jurisdiction” over Cumpio.
Acting Presiding Judge Noel Sermense however denied a similar petition by Abinguna, saying there was no discrepancy between him and the name listed on the charge sheet.
Cumpio and Abinguna were arrested on separate locations but on the same night in Tacloban City on February 2020.
Charged with various crimes, the two are part of what have been dubbed as the Tacloban 5.
Last October 29, the Court of Appeals gave Cumpio and another co-accused Marielle Domequil a win when it reversed a Manila RTC decision to forfeit funds seized from the room where both were arrested.
READ: Court of Appeals rebukes AMLC for ‘hasty labeling’ of journalist, church worker as ‘terrorists’
Abinguna was at the time of their mass arrest spokesperson for Karapatan-Eastern Visayas and acted as a quick responder to human rights cases in the region.
KARAPATAN denounced the court decision against Abinguna as “a blatant denial of rights to due process.”
“The court’s ruling on Abinguña exposes the continuing persecution of human rights defenders,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of KARAPATAN.
“While it was right for the court to recognize the invalid arrest of Frenchie Mae Cumpio, it is deeply unjust that the same principle was not applied to Chakoy (Abinguna), especially since the charges against them stem from the same trumped up charges of murder and attempted murder,” Palabay said.
KARAPATAN said the Court used a narrow and technical interpretation that disregards the broader context of unjust prosecution and the violation of Abinguña’s due process rights.
The human rights alliance pointed out that that charges against the Tacloban 5 are “patently baseless.”
“The denial of Abinguña’s motion to quash means he will once again be subjected to prolonged detention,” Palabay said. “His rights to due process and to a speedy disposition of his case are continuously violated by the extremely slow pace of court proceedings, both in the Tacloban court, where his main cases remain unresolved, and now in the Laoang court, which refused to quash the charges.”
Palabay asserted that Abinguna is being targeted because he exposed human rights violations committed by state forces.
“In the incidents cited against him, there was no proper identification at all, only his name, which was obtained in the military’s rogue gallery. His defense remains strong, as he was in other engagements when those alleged incidents took place,” she said.
Abinguna, Cumpio and Domequil are still detained at the Tacloban City District Jail pending the resolution of their remaining cases. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
