UN rapporteur visits 3 red-tagged political prisoners in Tacloban

MANILA, Philippines — Human rights group Karapatan lauded the United Nations (UN) expert on freedom of expression for visiting a progressive journalist and two activists currently behind bars at the Tacloban City Jail on Saturday.

According to Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, among those who were visited by UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan were journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, KARAPATAN human rights worker Alexander Philip Abinguna, and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines staff Marielle Domequil.

It could be remembered that Cumpio, Abinguna and Domequil were arrested on Feb. 7, 2020 after the signing of the much assailed Executive Order 70, a directive which led to the formation of the National Task Fore National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). 

"Their unjust arrest and detention, since February 2020, is one of most glaring cases of how far the policy and practice of red-tagging, filing of trumped up charges, and political imprisonment and persecution is used against frontliners for freedom of expression and opinion in the country," said Palabay.

"The Philippine government is trying so hard to turn the tables on Cumpio, Abinguna and Domequil, along with other victims of trumped up charges and unjust arrest, by demonizing them and treating them as criminals, making every possible move to deny them of their rights and freedoms, prolonging their detention, and preventing local and international observers to visit them in jail or monitor their court hearings. We hope that with Ms. Khan’s visit, their voices will continue to be heard."

Cumpio, executive director of Eastern Vista, was charged with illegal possession of firearms. Government officials, on the other hand, said the arrest was based on alleged affiliations with the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army (CPP-NPA).

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and NTF-ELCAC earlier branded Cumpio and Domequil as secretary of the "Regional White Area Committee" and "CPP-NPA finance officers." Cumpio earlier denied the accusations against her. The rights group reiterated the call for the release of Cumpio, Abinguna