Philippine authorities on Monday refused to allow the Committee to Protect Journalists and a coalition of press freedom organizations to visit jailed journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio during a joint mission aimed at asking authorities to end her more than five-year detention.
CPJ and the groups had submitted a formal request May 5 to visit Cumpio, a 26-year-old who has been held in the Tacloban City jail since she was arrested and charged in 2020 with possessing illegal firearms and financing terrorism. Her case continues in court.
The delegation was backed by the Media Freedom Coalition, a group of more than 50 countries pledged to support press freedom at home and abroad. It released a joint press statement on Monday.
“It is indefensible and inhumane to hold journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio any longer,” said CPJ’s Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi, from Tacloban City. “She has languished behind bars for more than five years even though she has not been convicted of any crime. The Philippines must live up to its reputation as a democracy and stop silencing critical reporting.”
After lengthy discussions with prison authorities, the coalition was able briefly to see Cumpio only from a distance, separated by three layers of prison bars. Through guards, Cumpio passed a letter addressed to Irene Khan, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, while the delegation handed over some essential items that included medication and handwritten notes.
Prison officials at the Tacloban City jail told CPJ and the international delegation that they needed to obtain approvals from the presidential office and the court before they are granted a visit. Since 2023, CPJ has made repeated attempts to visit Cumpio, all unsuccessful.
The delegation — which includes Reporters Without Borders, Free Press Unlimited, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and the Altermidya network of independent media groups — had previously raised serious concerns over Cumpio’s pretrial detention and allegations that authorities had planted the weapons that led to her arrest in February 2020.
If convicted, Cumpio faces up to 40 years in prison.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.