Court of Appeals: No Legal Basis for Civil Forfeiture Against Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Marielle Domequil
The Court’s decision is a clear rebuke of the misuse of counterterrorism laws to suppress activism, journalism, and humanitarian work. It affirms that defending human rights and reporting the truth are not crimes.
November 6, 2025
NUPL
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers is a nationwide voluntary association of human rights lawyers in the Philippines, committed to the defense, protection, and promotion of human rights, especially of the poor and the oppressed.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) welcomes the Court of Appeals’ landmark Decision dated October 29, 2025, which categorically held that there was no factual and legal basis to forfeit the funds seized from journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and lay worker Marielle Domequil.

In CA-G.R. CV No. 124860, the Court of Appeals (Third Division) reversed and set aside the ruling of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 18, Manila, dated December 7, 2022, which had ordered the forfeiture of ₱557,360 seized during the 2020 raid and arrest of Cumpio and Domequil in Tacloban City.

In nullifying the forfeiture, the appellate court made the following key findings:

  1. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), failed to: a) establish that the seized funds were related to or intended to finance terrorism; b) prove that Cumpio and Domequil were designated or proscribed individuals under the law; and c) establish any link between Cumpio and Domequil and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
  2. The Court found proof and indications that Cumpio and Domequil were gainfully employed—Cumpio as a journalist and Executive Director of Eastern Vista, and Domequil as a lay worker of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP)—“who had been actively participating in the efforts to improve the plight of human rights victims in Samar.”
  3. The Court clarified that under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and its Implementing Rules, the AMLC may only conduct a “permissible investigation” into properties or funds of designated or proscribed individuals and organizations.

Since Cumpio and Domequil were neither designated nor proscribed, and there was no evidence that they were linked to any such organization, the AMLC’s investigation and the subsequent forfeiture case were impermissible and unlawful.

  1. Under these circumstances, the Court held that there was no factual and legal basis for the forfeiture of the funds.

In a strongly worded caution, the Court of Appeals emphasized:

“The Court cannot countenance the hasty labelling of human rights advocates as terrorists and the speedy confiscation of their funds and property in the name of national security. Measures to counter terrorism must not be done without due process, and at the expense of individuals, groups, and civil society organizations that are engaged in the promotion and defense of human rights… To permit the forfeiture of property and funds without strict observance of the guidelines laid down in the ATA, the ATA-IRR, and other relevant laws, would thus be tantamount to committing the evil which the ATA sought to avoid. It would erode the public’s trust in the state’s capacity to manage threats to national security and address the causes of terrorism.”

The Court’s decision is a clear rebuke of the misuse of counterterrorism laws to suppress activism, journalism, and humanitarian work. It affirms that defending human rights and reporting the truth are not crimes.

This victory belongs not only to Frenchie and Marielle, but to all journalists, church workers, and human rights advocates whose commitment to truth and justice persists amid persecution. ###

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