00:01The Tacloban City Regional Trial Court convicts 26-year-old journalist Frenchy May Cumpio and 28-year-old layworker Marielle Domequil of terror financing.
00:10But the two were acquitted of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
00:14They've been in detention since 2020.
00:16Cumpio and Domequil's legal counsel, Juliana Agpalo, says her clients will pursue all legal remedies after the promulgation.
00:23It's not something that we expected, syempre, because considering doon sa tinakbo noong kaso, however, we understand pa rin naman na it is still really, terror financing is still really the weapon of choice when it comes to prosecuting or even silencing dissent, especially for journalists, community journalists.
00:46She adds they also intend to file a motion to post bail. The two are sentenced to 12 to 18 years in prison.
00:52Local and international groups condemn the conviction, saying it sends a chilling message to the media, activists, and ordinary Filipinos.
01:00Committee to Protect Journalists Asia-Pacific Director Bey Lee Yee calls the ruling absurd and says President Marcos' pledges to protect press freedom were nothing but empty talk.
01:10The Free Tacloban 5 network, meantime, says it condemns the state's continued use of the courts as instruments of political persecution.
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