Journalists from 35 countries issued a demand to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for the immediate release of Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a 26-year-old community journalist who has been in jail for more than five years on what colleagues and rights defenders call trumped-up charges.
In an open letter dated 24 September 2025, more than 250 signatories — including editors-in-chief, senior editors, and press freedom advocates — described Cumpio’s case as emblematic of how state power is being weaponized to silence independent reporting.
They warned that her “continued detention is not only a denial of justice but also a contradiction of [President Marcos’] stated commitment to press freedom,” adding that “Cumpio is currently the only journalist imprisoned in the Philippines for her work.”
Global show of solidarity
The joint letter was organized by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the #FreeFrenchieMaeCumpio coalition, which includes the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and Altermidya, alongside international watchdogs like the Committee to Protect Journalists and Free Press Unlimited.
Among the signatories are journalists from Rappler, ABS-CBN, GMA News, Al Jazeera, the New York Times, Associated Press, MindaNews, and independent newsrooms in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa also signed the appeal.
The signatories reminded Marcos of his remarks in April 2024, when he said “national interest is better served by a press that is critical rather than a press that is cooperative.”
The letter said Cumpio “exemplifies precisely this vision: a journalist committed to exposing abuses in order to strengthen democracy.”
Trumped-up charges
Cumpio has been in detention since February 2020, facing charges of “financing terrorism” and “illegal possession of firearms.”
RSF noted that these allegations are unfounded and said she is also being implicated in fabricated “double murder” charges in another case riddled with irregularities. If convicted, she could spend up to 40 years in prison.
Her defense has denounced due process violations, including contradictions in witness testimony and evidence suggesting the firearms allegedly found in her home were planted.
Before her arrest, Cumpio worked as executive director of the independent news site Eastern Vista and hosted a radio program on Aksyon Radyo-Tacloban DYVL, where she reported on police and military abuses in Eastern Visayas.
‘An attack on one journalist is an attack on all’
Aleksandra Bielakowska, RSF’s Asia-Pacific advocacy manager, said the global support shows the injustice cannot be hidden.
“#FreeFrenchieMaeCumpio coalition has brought together the powerful voices of journalists from around the world to send a clear message: the international media community will not remain silent while their colleague, Frenchie Mae Cumpio, is unjustly detained in the Philippines,” she said.
Bielakowska stressed that Cumpio’s case is not an isolated injustice but part of a wider assault on press freedom. She said the joint letter demonstrates global solidarity with the detained journalist and serves as a warning that repression against media workers will not go unnoticed.
RSF and its partners are pressing President Marcos Jr. and the Department of Justice to drop all charges and restore Cumpio’s freedom, insisting that the years of injustice she has faced must come to an end.
A test for press freedom
The letter stressed that freeing Cumpio would be a vital step in proving the government’s commitment to human rights as the Philippines prepares to chair ASEAN in 2026.
“That is why we, 255 journalists from the Philippines and across the globe, urge you to use your authority to direct the Department of Justice (DoJ) to drop all charges against Cumpio and immediately restore her freedom,” the signatories said.
RSF ranked the Philippines 116th out of 180 countries in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, categorizing the state of press freedom in the country as “difficult.”
Cumpio’s next court hearing is scheduled for 29 September 2025.
