UN special rapporteur visits detained activists, journalist in Tacloban
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28)— United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan visited detained two activists and a journalist included in the Leyte 5 in the Tacloban City Jail over the weekend.
In a social media post, Khan said they were the only foreign visitors that were allowed to visit Altermidya correspondent Frenchie Cumpio, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines-Eastern Visayas finance officer Marielle Domequil, and Alexander Abinguna of Katungod Sinirangan Bisayas – Karapatan.
After four years, their trial is "still dragging on," Khan wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
They were separately arrested in 2020 over alleged possession of firearms and explosives during the crackdown on alleged communists after the signing of Executive Order 70, which led to the formation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
The other members of the Leyte 5 are Mira Legion of Bayan-Eastern Visayas and Marissa Cabaljao, People Surge Network spokesperson. They were the only ones allowed to post bail amounting to ₱120,000 each.
In separate statements on Sunday, human rights group Karapatan and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) lauded the visit of the special rapporteur, who expressed her support for the detained individuals.
“NUJP asserts that the three should not wait any minute longer to be free. They are victims of fabricated charges. The evidence against them was planted, and the testimonies against them falsified,” the NUJP said in a separate statement.
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On the other hand, former New People’s Army (NPA) top official Alma Gabin, who is now working with the government to fight insurgency in the country since her arrest in 2020, said on Saturday that Khan was welcomed by over 30 former NPA members.
Gabin underscored the desire of her organization, the Eastern Visayas Peace Builders and Development Federation Inc., to engage with Khan for a “balanced understanding that can inform recommendations promoting peace and preventing the resurgence of chaos” supposedly caused by alleged members of the communist group.
In a press briefing on Saturday afternoon, Presidential Task Force on Media Security Executive Director Undersecretary Paul Gutierrez said Khan's "only agenda" is to know the media situation in the Eastern Visayas region related to the Leyte 5.
Meanwhile, Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said the arrest of the Leyte 5 was one of the “most glaring cases of red-tagging and trumped-up charges” in the country.
“Trumped up charges using counter-terror legislation was later filed against Cumpio and Domequil by the NTF-ELCAC. The Anti-Money Laundering Council issued Resolution No. TF-27 on May 28, 2020 in relation to the cash amount of ₱557,360.00 which was seized by elements of the PNP-CIDG while they were planting firearms and explosives in Cumpio and Domequil's office in Tacloban City on February 7, 2020,” the group said in its Facebook page.
The groups called on the government to release the human rights advocates and said they hope that the UN’s visit would help in raising their concerns.
CNN Philippines Tacloban-based journalist Wilmark Amazona contributed to this story.
