Filipino journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio’s imprisonment is included in this year’s “10 Most Urgent List” of press freedom violations in the world by global media outlets.
Coinciding with World Press Freedom Day on Saturday, May 3, the One Free Press Coalition’s annual list brings attention to fellow journalists who are being imprisoned for seeking to tell the truth.
“These ten cases illuminate governments’ efforts at criminalizing journalism, silencing the media, and withholding information from the public,” the Coalition said.
The list is compiled in collaboration with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
According to CPJ data, 361 journalists were behind bars worldwide at the end of 2024, up from 320 in 2023.
In August 2024, the One Free Press Coalition celebrated the release of two American journalists—Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva—from Russian detention after their cases topped the May 2024 list of “10 Most Urgent” press freedom cases.
“Given the increasing number of journalists detained for simply doing their jobs and seeking to tell the truth, and given the successful 2024 campaign to free Gershkovich and Kurmasheva, the One Free Press Coalition crucially and emphatically unites our collective voices in support of the following individuals and their urgent cases of press persecution,” it said.
Tacloban-based Cumpio, 26, has been held in detention for five years.
Authorities raided her home in February 2020 and arrested her—along with colleagues Marielle Domequil and Alexander Abinguna—on charges of illegal firearms possession and terrorism financing.
All three deny the charges.
Cumpio testified to having been subjected to months of surveillance and harassment prior to the raid, and an outside investigation found that a firearm and grenade were planted by military members in her home to incriminate the then-21-year-old.
Her reporting included local radio coverage of military and police abuse and independent media stories about marginalized people in the Philippines.
If convicted, she faces up to 40 years in prison.
Various local and international media organizations have been calling on the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government to drop the “trumped-up” charges against Cumpio and her fellow accused.
United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression Irene Khan called on the Philippine government last year to conduct speedy trials to enable Cumpio and colleagues to be freed from imprisonment should they be found innocent of the charges. | via Kodao Productions
