The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined the Government of the Philippines violated international human rights law by detaining human rights activists Frenchie Mae Cumpio, Marielle Domequil, and Alexander Abinguna. Responding to a petition filed by Freedom Now and the international law firm Dechert LLP, the decision found that the Philippines provided no legal justification for the activists’ detention, which the Working Group concluded resulted “from the exercise of their right to freedom of expression and of assembly and of association.”
“Frenchie Mae Cumpio, Marielle Domequil, and Alexander Abinguna have spent more than six years imprisoned on baseless, false charges directed at their activism,” said Freedom Now Legal Officer Adam Lhedmat. “We welcome the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s decision and renew our call to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to uphold his promises to protect press freedom and rectify these politically motivated detentions. President Marcos should immediately pardon Frenchie and Marielle and ensure no further judicial harassment against Alexander, who is being tried in a separate case.”
Cumpio is the executive director of the Eastern Vista news website and a local radio news anchor whose reporting focused on alleged human rights abuses perpetrated by the police and military. Domequil is a community organizer with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and a women’s rights activist. Abinguna is a human rights worker and regional coordinator for the organization Karapatan. They were arrested in February 2020 during a series of pre-dawn police raids in Tacloban City and baselessly accused of supporting the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing. The government has used this tactic, known as “red-tagging,” to silence independent, critical voices by labeling them as communists, subversives, or terrorists.
In November 2025, a Filipino court ruled to dismiss a parallel civil case brought against Cumpio and Domequil. Another quashed unfounded murder charges that had been brought against Cumpio. In December 2025, the Philippines’ presidential office wrote in a response to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) about Cumpio that it is “dedicated to protecting her rights and upholding due process to ensure a legitimate and lasting resolution.”
On January 22, the day before Cumpio’s 27th birthday, the Tacloban regional trial court sentenced Cumpio and Domequil to 12 to 18 years in prison on charges of financing terrorism, while also acquitting them of charges illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The verdict highlighted the arbitrary nature of the case, as the prosecution had asserted the weapons were found along with the money used to substantiate the terrorism financing conviction.