NTF-ELCAC Seeks Reversal of CA Ruling on Cumpio–Domequil Case, Cites Strong Links to Terrorism Financing

November 13, 2025

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has urged the Court of Appeals (CA) to reconsider its recent ruling voiding the forfeiture of ₱557,360 seized from Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Mariel Domequil—funds the government maintains were directly tied to the financing of Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) operations in Eastern Visayas.

In a recent inter-agency meeting chaired by Justice Angelita V. Miranda, representatives from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP), and DOJ–National Prosecution Service (NPS) agreed to exhaust all legal remedies. The OSG committed to file a Motion for Reconsideration before the CA, supported by additional intelligence and legal inputs to reinforce the government’s position.

The AMLC had earlier secured a favorable ruling from the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), which found sufficient grounds to forfeit the seized funds after evaluating intelligence reports, financial analyses, and sworn statements linking the money to the Communist Party of the Philippines–New People’s Army (CPP–NPA), a designated terrorist organization under Republic Act No. 10168, the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012. However, the CA later reversed the decision—a move the NTF-ELCAC says disregards the clear intent of the law.

According to the Task Force and AMLC, RA 10168 does not require an individual to be a member of a terrorist group to be liable for terrorism financing. The law punishes the act of providing, collecting, or facilitating funds intended to support terrorist activities—regardless of organizational affiliation.

The government further stresses that the 2020 law enforcement operations that led to the seizure of the funds also resulted in the confiscation of firearms, explosives, and other paraphernalia, which prompted four criminal charges for illegal possession and one for terrorism financing—now pending before the RTC in Tacloban City. These pieces of evidence, officials say, demonstrate a direct operational connection between the money and CTG activities, consistent with RA 10168 and the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (RA 11479).

NTF-ELCAC also raised concern over reports of frequent visits by foreign consuls to the respondents, warning that such engagements—while within diplomatic discretion—may influence public perception or ongoing judicial processes involving national security threats.

The Task Force emphasized that press freedom and human rights advocacy must never be weaponized as shields for terrorism financing, nor should they be used to sanitize or obscure efforts that support armed rebellion.

“The government remains unwavering,” the NTF-ELCAC said, “in enforcing the law and protecting the Filipino people against any and all forms of terrorism—including its financiers, facilitators, and enablers.”