A local prelate echoed the call made by Pope Leo XIV to have journalists in jail throughout the world released, reiterating demands for the freedom of imprisoned Filipino reporter Frenchie Mae Cumpio.
San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said he gives his full support to the new Pontiff’s call for the release of journalists jailed “for seeking and reporting the truth.”
“This means for us here in Negros, calling as well for the release of Frenchie Mae Cumpio and for all the other political prisoners as well in Negros and all over our country,” Alminaza told Kodao.
“The Church recognizes in these witnesses—like Frenchie Mae—the courage of those who defend dignity, justice, and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices,” the bishop added.
Leo XIV on Monday met the hundreds of journalists in Vatican City who covered the conclave that elected him last Thursday.
“Let me…reiterate today the Church’s solidarity with journalists who are imprisoned for seeking and reporting the truth, while also asking for their release,” he said.
The new leader of the Roman Catholic Church said the suffering of imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community.
He also called for the safeguarding of “the precious gift of free speech and of the press.”
Truth-teller in prison
A victim of repeated red-tagging and vicious surveillance by state forces, Cumpio was arrested in February 2020 along with church lay worker Marielle Domequil and three other Tacloban human rights defenders.
Prior to her arrest, Cumpio had been consistently reporting on human rights in her home region.
She was the executive director of alternative media outfit Eastern Vista and was the anchor of a regular radio show in Tacloban City produced by a church-based organization.
Cumpio and Domequil were first charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives and subsequently charged with alleged terrorism financing.
Both detainees vehemently deny as trumped-up the charges in the ongoing trial.
The only journalist in jail in the Philippines, Cumpio’s freedom has been included in this year’s global campaign by Reporters Without Borders.
After a visit in Tacloban Jail during an official investigation in 2024, United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression Irene Khan called for a speedier trial for Cumpio and her co-accused.
