Journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights defenders Alexander Philip Abinguña and Marielle Domequil were arrested in the early morning of February 7, 2020, in Tacloban City on baseless illegal possession of firearms charges, alongside two other human rights activists, Mira Legion and Marissa Cabaljao (together, the “Tacloban 5”). Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a journalist for Eastern Vista, and Marielle Domequil, a finance officer and lay worker of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), were arrested from a staff house shared by RMP and Eastern Vista, following a raid where officers claimed to find firearms and explosives. 

While the raid on the staff house was being conducted, the regional office in Tacloban City, where Abinguña, Legion, and Cabaljao were present, was also raided. Abinguña, a human rights activist and Regional Coordinator for Katungod–a regional branch of Karapatan–Legion, and Cabaljao were detained by authorities after officers claimed to have seized firearms and an IED from their sleeping quarters.

Legion and Cabaljao were released on bail in February 2020. Cumpio, Domequil, and Abinguña have been detained without bail since February 7, 2020. All three deny possessing such firearms and explosives, maintaining that the officers conducting the raid planted the evidence. 

Before the arrests, Cumpio, Domequil, and Abinguña had observed being surveilled by unidentified men on the streets and at their offices. Additionally, the government had subjected Cumpio, other journalists at Eastern Vista, and Abinguña’s organization itself to “red-tagging,” labeling them as members of the New People’s Army, a militant branch of the Communist Party of the Philippines (often referred to as “CPP-NPA”). Just prior to the raids, Abinguña requested that the Philippine Human Rights Commission conduct an inspection of his office to confirm he did not possess any illegal items.

The three filed a motion to quash the search warrant used during the raid and to return items seized that were not included in the search warrant, but the Tacloban City regional trial court denied this motion on June 23, 2020.

In February 2022, Cumpio and Domequil were further charged with financing terrorism in connection with money seized during the Eastern Vista staff house raid. This money had been collected by Cumpio and Domequil to support Cumpio’s journalism. In a separate proceeding, in December 2022, the Regional Trial Court granted a petition for civil forfeiture under the Anti-Terrorism Act against Cumpio and Domequil related to this money. The forfeiture was reversed and nullified by the Court of Appeals in October 2025, with the Court of Appeals stating that it “cannot countenance the hasty labelling of human rights advocates as terrorists and the speedy confiscation of their funds and property in the name of national security.”

Cumpio and Abinguña also faced baseless charges of double murder and attempted murder charges related to an ambush that killed soldiers in October 2019. On November 6, 2025, the Regional Trial Court granted Cumpio’s motion to quash these charges, finding that the complaint named “Frenchie Armando Cupio,” who was not the same person as “Frenchie Mae Cumpio.” Abinguña’s motion to quash was denied, with the Regional Trial Court finding that the court had proper jurisdiction over him with respect to these charges. 

All three have been held in detention for over five years. Cumpio and Domequil are being held in the Tacloban City Jail Female Dormitory, where they have reportedly experienced “serious delays” in receiving medical care, required paperwork for trial monitoring, and approvals for media and diplomatic visits. The Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights also reported that Cumpio and Domequil have been prohibited from confidentially communicating with legal counsel and that their personal letters have been screened by authorities.

UN Special Procedures first expressed concern about the fabricated charges against Cumpio, Domequil, and Abinguña in April 2020, not long after their arrest. In September 2024, Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, raised Cumpio, Abinguña, and Domequil’s case in a communication to the Philippines. In January 2025, Special Rapporteur Irene Khan visited the Philippines, during which she met with Cumpio, Abinguña, and Domequil in jail. She issued a report in June 2025 detailing her visit with the three and recommending that they be released and the charges against them dismissed “as manifestly unfounded.”

A decision in Cumpio and Domequil’s possession of firearms case is expected in January 2026, and a decision in the financing terrorism case is expected in February. Abinguña’s possession of firearms case in the Tacloban court remains ongoing at an extraordinarily slow pace, and he continues to fight baseless murder charges in the Laoang court following the denial of his motion to quash in November 2025.

The charges against Cumpio, Domequil, and Abinguña are emblematic of the Philippines’ broader repression of civic space through “red-tagging.” “Red-tagging” is the practice of labeling groups or individuals as supporters or members of the CPP-NPA, and has been justified by security forces as a counterterrorism strategy. This practice intensified under the former Duterte government and continues under current President Marcos. Human rights defenders, journalists, students, and others who are deemed to be critical of the government or to hold progressive political views have been targeted by red-tagging.

Red-tagging is used primarily by the National Task Force on Ending the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which was created by the Duterte government, as well as by security forces, government officials, and some media outlets. As in the case of Cumpio, Domequil, and Abinguña, those who are red-tagged can face surveillance, fabricated charges, and criminal prosecution. Others have faced threats, violence, and have been killed.

In May 2024, the Philippines Supreme Court held that red-tagging “threaten[s] a person’s right to life, liberty, or security.” Despite the Supreme Court ruling and international attention from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, and international human rights organizations, red-tagging and subsequent detention and prosecution of human rights defenders, journalists, and others continues.

• Karapatan, Karapatan denounces Gestapo-like raids of NGO offices in Tacloban City (7 February 2020)
• UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Visit to the Philippines – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (27 September 2024)
• Karapatan, Karapatan hits slow-paced court proceedings of gov’t case vs human rights worker, colleagues in Tacloban (7 February 2025)

• Freedom Now, Dechert LLP, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention petition (5 September 2025)
• Decision, Republic of the Philippines, Represented by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) v. Frenchie Mae C. Cumpio and Mariel A. Domequil, Republic of the Philippines, Court of Appeals, Third Division (29 October 2025)
• Resolution, People of the Philippines v. Frenchie Armando Y Cupio & Alexander Philip Abinguna, et al., Regional Trial Court, 8th Judicial Region (6 November 2025).