DOJ urged: Dismiss case vs detained journalist, activists

Secretary of Justice Jesus Crispin Remulla. (File photo by TETCH TORRES-TUPAS / INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines — Media groups asked Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday to review and dismiss the charges against community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and two other activists who remain detained in a Tacloban jail.

Altermidya Network, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines made the request in a letter they submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Cumpio and human rights advocates Mariel Domequil and Alexander Philip Abinguna have been in prison for four years on charges related to terrorism financing.

Cumpio, a journalist from Tacloban City, was arrested in 2020 during a series of raids conducted by the military. She was charged with illegal possession of firearms, a nonbailable offense.

The media groups cited the recommendation of United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan who personally met with the three in the Tacloban jail during her recent 10-day visit to the Philippines.

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“Justice delayed is justice denied, and I trust that my visit will encourage the relevant authorities to either review the cases and dismiss the charges as unfounded, or to speed up the trials with full due process,” Khan told journalists afterward.

In their appeal, the media groups urged the DOJ to launch an impartial and thorough probe of how state prosecutors and various government officials at the national and local levels were “weaponizing laws to attack journalists and perceived critics.”

“It is notable that illegal possession of guns and explosives charges have become standard complaints against government critics, buttressing doubts as to the credibility of the service and the department itself,” they said.