United Nations human rights experts are demanding the release of Filipino journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights defender Marielle Domequil, calling their six-year ordeal a grave violation of due process and warning that the two women deserve bail while they appeal their terrorism financing conviction.
“Frenchie and Marielle have suffered six years of pre-trial detention and a fraught legal process with a string of charges that have been widely criticised as baseless and in retaliation for their human rights work,” the experts said. “At a minimum, they should be released on bail while they pursue their appeal.” 
Cumpio was the executive director of the community news outlet Eastern Vista and a radio news anchor whose reporting focused on alleged human rights abuses by the police and military. Domequil was a women’s rights activist and community organizer with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines. 
The two were arrested on 7 February 2020 following months of “red-tagging” and harassment attributed to State agents, charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, and held with no legal possibility of bail. A year and a half later, an additional charge of financing terrorism was filed against them. 
In January 2026, a Tacloban regional court found Cumpio and Domequil guilty of financing terrorism and sentenced them to up to 18 years in prison, while acquitting them on the separate firearms and explosives charges.  Press freedom groups condemned the verdict. The Committee to Protect Journalists called it an “absurd verdict” that exposed the Philippine government’s empty pledges on press freedom, while Reporters Without Borders cited a “blatant disregard for press freedom.” 
In February, the Tacloban Regional Trial Court denied the pair’s petition for bail, with Judge Georgina Uy Perez ruling there was no strong or compelling reason to grant their release. 
The UN experts have urged the Philippine court to reconsider. “Given the serious concerns about the unconscionable length of time that the two young women have already spent in detention and the lack of due process, we urge the court to grant them bail without any further delay,” they said. “Frenchie and Marielle deserve to be free to fight for justice.” 
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Irene Khan previously stated that the arrest and criminal charges, following months of red-tagging, surveillance, intimidation, and harassment, appear to have been filed in retaliation for Cumpio’s journalism.  The experts confirmed they remain in contact with the Philippine government on the matter. (Rights Report Philippines)