GABRIELA condemns travesty of justice in conviction of Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Maye Domequil: A dark day for press freedom and human rights

Press Release
January 22, 2026

QUEZON CITY – GABRIELA, the national alliance of Filipino women, expresses its gravest indignation and strongest condemnation over the unjust conviction of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and activist Marielle “Maye” Domequil. Today’s verdict is a gross miscarriage of justice that rewards the state’s machinery of lies and validates the systematic persecution of those who dare to speak truth to power. It also sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the work of fellow activists and human rights defenders.

For nearly six years, Frenchie and Maye were subjected to the cruelty of the Tacloban 5 office raids – a hallmark of the Duterte-era crackdown that utilized planted evidence and perjured testimonies to paralyze dissent. By upholding these trumped-up charges, the court has effectively validated the criminalization of dissent and state terrorism.

“This conviction sends a chilling message: that in the Philippines, telling the truth is treated as a crime. Furthermore, the verdict ignores the documented pattern of judicial harassment used to neutralize activists who seek to empower the marginalized,” declared Cora Agovida, GABRIELA Deputy Secretary General and herself a survivor of a similar “raid and plant” operation in 2019. She pointed out that the conviction relied on a narrative manufactured under the framework of tyrant Duterte’s Executive Order 70 and Memorandum Order 32 – policies that continue to haunt activists under the current administration.

GABRIELA further emphasized how the state targets women human rights defenders with particular vitriol to intimidate families and push women back into a culture of submission: “It is a double injustice that while women bear the brunt of the economic crisis, the state responds to their advocacy with handcuffs. Frenchie and Maye have spent their youth behind bars for the ‘crime’ of serving the people. Even inside the Tacloban City Jail, they led the struggle for the rights of fellow PDLs, proving that the spirit of a woman human rights defender cannot be broken by state terror.”

GABRIELA vows that this legal setback will not stop the movement for justice. The group remains steadfast in its demand for their release, including Alexander “Chakoy” Abinguna, and all political prisoners currently languishing in Philippine jails on fabricated charges.