The Court of Appeals (CA) has reversed a Manila court’s decision ordering the forfeiture of funds seized from detained Tacloban-based journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights defender Mariel Domequil, saying there was no proof the money was linked to terrorism financing.
In a decision dated Oct. 29, the appellate court’s Third Division overturned the 2022 ruling of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), which granted the petition to forfeit the P557,360 seized by the authorities during Cumpio and Domequil’s arrest in 2020.
The Manila RTC ruled the funds were tied to terrorism financing based on affidavits alleging Cumpio and Domequil’s links to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
But in its reversal ruling, the CA said it cannot share the views of the Manila RTC as neither Cumpio nor Domequil has been designated as terrorists.
“The allegations against Cumpio and Domequil, whose names do not appear on any of the documents presented or in the list published by the [United Nations Security Council], can hardly qualify as a designation under the first mode in Rule VI,” the CA said.
The CA added no other evidence was presented to prove the alleged involvement of Cumpio and Domequil in the activities of the CPP-NPA other than the “bare allegations” of two witnesses.
“The Court 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,” the CA ruling read.
“Measures to counter terrorism must not be done without due process, and at the expense of individuals, groups, and civil society organizations that are engaged in the promotion and defense of human rights,” it added.
In 2020, Cumpio, Domequil and three other activists, collectively known as the “Tacloban 5,” were arrested over trumped-up charges of terrorism financing and illegal possession of firearms.
RELATED: A decade and a half later: Impunity for Filipino journalists persists
Rights groups have since denounced their arrest, saying it is an emblematic case of the Duterte government’s legal crackdown against journalists and human rights defenders.
With reports from Aicelle Ferrera
