Photo: PUP Catalyst
Today, November 11, 2024, the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) joins journalists and media practitioners in demanding the release of Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who will take the witness stand for the first time since her arrest in early 2020.
Frenchie Mae is one of the “Tacloban 5” along with KARAPATAN human rights worker Alexander Philip “Chakoy” Abinguna, Bayan staff Mira Legion, environmental activist Marissa Cabaljao, and humanitarian worker Marielle Domequil who were arbitrarily arrested and charged with fabricated cases of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Cumpio and Domequil have also been charged with violating the law on terrorist financing.
“It has been almost five years since Frenchie Mae, Chakoy Abinguna, and Marielle Domequil were arrested. Their continued detention on fabricated charges is both inhumane and unjust. Their cases should be dismissed, and they must be set free,” said SELDA spokesperson Danah Marcellana, a former political prisoner out on bail who is also facing trumped-up charges.
Frenchie Mae is one of the 591 victims of illegal arrest and detention under the Duterte administration. By the end of Duterte’s term, the number of political prisoners had risen to 802. Many of those detained are from the peasants, workers, fisherfolk and activists who have fought for genuine social change.
Duterte also targeted peace consultants and advocates, imprisoning 17 National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultants during his term.
“Duterte committed grave crimes against the people through his ‘whole-of-nation approach’ and the creation of the National Task Force to and Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the Anti-Terrorism Council by virtue of Executive Order 70 and Republic Act 11479,” added Marcellana. “These crimes include the corruption of the judiciary through the issuance of questionable warrants, leading to terror, illegal raids, unjust incarceration, and even killings, as well as the filing of fabricated charges against ordinary Filipinos and activists. He must be held accountable,” stressed Marcellana.
“We challenge the Marcos administration to junk EO 70 and dismantle the NTF-ELCAC and the Anti-Terrorism Council,” said Marcellana. “We call on the Marcos regime and the Department of Justice to drop all trumped-up charges against political prisoners and pursue cases against Duterte in the interest of justice,” she concluded.