Recent CA reso on AMLC case shows wrongful conviction of Cumpio, Domequil
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
21 April 2026
Reference: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
Recent CA reso on AMLC case shows wrongful conviction of Cumpio, Domequil
Human rights alliance KARAPATAN welcomed the recent resolution of the former 3rd Division of the Court of Appeals on the civil forfeiture case of the Anti-Money Laundering Council against community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and humanitarian worker Marielle Domequil, as the group said that the decision strengthens the assertion that the two women were unjustly and wrongfully convicted of violations under the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.
On April 13, 2026, the CA promulgated its decision on the motion for reconsideration filed by the AMLC on its earlier resolution, on October 29, 2025, stating that there was no factual and legal basis to forfeit the funds seized from Cumpio and Domequil. In the April decision, the CA said that the testimonies of alleged witnesses, who are purported rebel surrenderees, are uncorroborated and unsupported by independent and unbiased evidence.
“The whole case of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the AMLC against Cumpio and Domequil was concocted based on lies by paid hacks and mercenaries of the military. The CA’s decision showed that their lies are indefensible and convoluted,” said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay.
KARAPATAN said this further shows that the decision of Judge Georgina Uy Perez of the Regional Trial Court Branch 45 in Tacloban City convicting Cumpio and Domequil is a grave injustice to the two women. “It is unfortunate that the local court chose to hinge its decision on the say-so of military mercenaries whose credibility and motives are most questionable,” Palabay stated.
The rights group said it will continue to support all efforts to question the wrongful conviction of Cumpio and Domequil and to demand the release of the two women along with KARAPATAN human rights worker Alexander Philip Abinguña, who was arrested on the same day in February 7, 2020, in a string of police raids in the offices and homes of human rights defenders in Tacloban City.
“The cases against the nearly 700 political prisoners like Cumpio, Domequil and Abinguña are all based on perjured testimonies and planted evidence, conjured by the NTF-ELCAC and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to persecute human rights activists and political dissenters. Their release, though long overdue, serves the cause for justice,” Palabay said.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. It was established in 1995.