As the Philippines’ National Press Freedom Day approaches, an international coalition of press freedom organizations pressed its call for the release of Filipino journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio.
The Free Frenchie Mae Coalition, consisting of France-based Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières, RSF), US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and The Netherlands-based Free Press Unlimited (FPU) and local media groups the People’s Alternative Media Network (AlterMidya) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to immediately release the jailed journalist.
The Philippines observes National Press Freedom Day on August 30.
Cumpio is the country’s lone detained journalist, held for five years without conviction.
The twenty-six-year-old Cumpio was the executive director of the independent news outfit Eastern Vista and a radio news anchor who covered police and military abuses as well as community welfare issues before she was arrested alongside four human rights defenders in February 2020.
An exclusive RSF investigation published in July 2025 revealed serious flaws in the case against her, and there are allegations that authorities planted the weapons that led to her arrest.
Her trial is nearing its conclusion, with the next court date scheduled for September 29, 2025. She faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
“National Press Freedom Day should be a time to honour and celebrate the courage of journalists in the Philippines, such as Frenchie Mae Cumpio. Yet she has been languishing in prison for five years without conviction, held on trumped-up charges and facing a maximum sentence of 40 years. Her continued detention is a blatant violation of press freedom and a direct attack on all journalists who continue to hold power to account. It is long past time for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his government to release her, drop all charges, and demonstrate a genuine commitment to press freedom.” — Aleksandra Bielakowska, RSF Asia-Pacific Advocacy Manager
The coalition had been monitoring Cumpio’s trial since she began testifying in November 2024, nearly half a decade after she was first arrested.
In June 2025, the organizations travelled to Tacloban to meet with Cumpio, but were denied access to the prison.
Following the coalition’s advocacy efforts and meetings with authorities, members were allowed to visit her for the first time in July 2025.
That same month, the Philippines Commission on Human Rights (CHR) issued a statement expressing its concerns about the alleged mistreatment and abuse of Cumpio in detention, and referred the case for investigation, five years after the press freedom coalition started their advocacy.
The coalition has repeatedly raised concerns about the journalist’s physical condition and violations of her legal rights.
The second part of the RSF investigation found she may also face another case in which she is accused of participating in an ambush that killed two soldiers, based on shockingly flimsy evidence.
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion Irene Khan called for Cumpio’s release in her report to the UN Human Rights Committee.
In May, the journalist’s case was included in the 2025 ”10 Most Urgent” list of imprisoned journalists by the One Free Press Coalition.
In August, Altermidya demanded an investigation into abusive practices in the jail facility where Cumpio is detained, resulting in the sacking of the jail warden.
Representatives of the British Embassy had since been allowed to visit the journalist under the new jail management.
With at least 147 journalists murdered since the restoration of democracy in 1986, the Philippines remains one of the deadliest countries for media workers.
The country ranks 116th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
