Not money trail, but words of ‘returnees,’ convicted Frenchie and Marielle

On March 27, 2019, human rights workers staged a lightning rally to protest what they called the “harassment” of local residents of Samar, Leyte who had evacuated due to a strong military presence in their community. The rally was posted on Facebook that day, and Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a student activist and community journalist at the time, said she helped mount this campaign.

Cumpio, who had been detained since 2020, showed this Facebook post as proof, and a screenshot of an email she sent on March 29, 2019, as part of their documentation and preparation for filing of a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights.

For Tacloban judge Georgina Perez, these were not sufficient proof to establish Cumpio was in Tacloban busy with organizing work on March 29. The judge instead believed the testimonies of four alleged rebel returnees who said they saw Cumpio, and fellow human rights worker Marielle Domequil, in a mountainous area in Catbalogan, Samar — two hours from Tacloban by car — on March 29, 2019, receiving P100,000 in cash allegedly meant to fund the New People’s Army (NPA).

Judge Perez convicted Cumpio and Domequil of terror financing, and sentenced both of them to 12 to 18 years.

Domequil submitted activity logs on her Facebook and Twitter accounts on March 29, 2019, to support her claim that she was not feeling well and was just at the Makabayan office in Tacloban that day, mostly tweeting, chatting with her sister, and watching Netflix.

No money trail was presented. One of the rebel returnee witnesses said it was not customary for the NPA to issue receipts, or sign any kind of document in any exchange of money.

Judge Perez believed them, saying that “aside from the screenshots of their supposed activities, which did not establish their actual location or precise whereabouts on March 29, 2019, the two accused did not present any witness to confirm or corroborate their claims that they were just in Tacloban City on that date.”

“When the testimonies of different witnesses independently coincide the material points of the incident, such harmony is a strong badge of truth rather than fabrication,” said Judge Perez.

Court of Appeals in 2025: No evidence of terror financing

When state agents raided Cumpio and Domequil’s small rented apartment on February 6, 2020, officers found cash amounting to P557,360. Two missionary sisters testified in court to support Cumpio and Domequil’s claims that the money were funds that many groups raised for the multilateral organization, “Stand with Leyte and Samar.” It was an organization that helped communities displaced and impacted by militarization, brought about by a Duterte-time memorandum that empowered the police and military to “suppress and prevent lawless violence” in select provinces like Samar.

Raiding officers took the half-million-peso cash and froze it. They went on to file a civil forfeiture case at the Court of Appeals (CA).

In both the CA civil case, and the terror financing criminal case in Tacloban, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) investigator said there was no other evidence aside from testimonies to say that the P557,360 was for the NPA.

AMLC lawyer Eraño Dumale testified that, as quoted in the judgment, “aside from the affidavits of [witnesses] Bustillo and Rafales, there are no documents showing that the P500,000.00 will be used for terrorism financing.”

Dumale said the same before the CA in the civil case. In that case, three justices of the third division of the appellate court believed that testimonies alone are not sufficient.

“A careful review of the evidence at hand, moreover, reveals that there is a dearth of reason to believe that the respondents-appellants were or are connected to the CPP-NPA,” said the CA in October 2025.

The CA ruling last year boosted hopes for the human rights community that an acquittal was forthcoming.

Duterte’s anti-terror law

The feared anti-terror law also came at play here. Although terror financing is covered by a different law, RA 10168 or the anti-terrorism financing law, the assertion that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the NPA are a terrorist group is what boosted the government’s case.

The CPP-NPA was designated a terror group in December 2020 under Duterte’s anti-terror law, where groups and people can be “designated” terrorists even without going to court.

Whereas before, legal proscription required going to a judge, the 2020 anti-terror law empowered executive officials to designate people and groups in secret meetings, even without notifying them. Designation was a power upheld by the Supreme Court. In 2022, a local judge in Manila junked the proscription case against the CPP-NPA, and as a result, the judge was red-tagged.

But the alleged financing happened in March 2019, a year before the new anti-terror law was passed.

Judge Perez relied on Duterte’s Proclamation No. 374 issued in December 2017 unilaterally declaring the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization. This was after Duterte’s peace talks collapsed.

“There is no showing that Proclamation No. 374 or any portion thereof has been nullified or declared unconstitutional. It therefore remains fully effective and enforceable, and, to the mind of the court, validly designated the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization for purposes of terrorism financing measures and criminal liability under Republic act No. 10168,” said Judge Perez.

At the CA, the justices pointed out that Cumpio and Domequil have not even been designated terrorists under any law, and that “apart from the bare allegations of Bustillo and Rafales, no other evidence was presented to prove the alleged involvement of the respondents-appellants in activities of the CPP-NPA.”

“The Court cannot countenance the hasty labelling of human rights advocates as terrorists and the speedy confiscation of their funds and property in the name of national security,” said the justices.

The case has attracted international attention, especially from media groups.

The Media Freedom Coalition Embassy Network, in a statement signed by 15 foreign embassies in Manila, said they “express their concern regarding the recent developments” on the case.

“Today marks the fifth birthday that Frenchie Mae Cumpio has spent in detention, a stark reminder of the challenges faced by journalists in the pursuit of their vital work,” the statement said. – Rappler.com