The AFP has airdropped leaflets persuading extermists to surrender. Will such a tactic even work? Or will it just be so much litter?
The Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade and the Philippine Air Force (PAF) on Sunday, Jan. 18, conducted aerial leaflet dropping in Maguindanao del Sur as part of its campaign against loose firearms and violent extremism.
Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, 601st brigade commander, said in a statement that several bundles of leaflets, written in the Maguindanaon language, had been dropped in the towns of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Shariff Aguak, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Mamasapano, and nearby areas, containing messages in a mixture of Tagalog and Maguindanaon, telling lawless elements, including the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and Dawlah Islamiyah, to accept the government’s offer of peace.
“Surrender with your firearms to military and police authorities in Maguindanao del Sur. The local governments and the military are ready to assist you,” the leaflet reads. It also contained mobile numbers of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade and the Maguindanao del Sur provincial police office.
“This is part of our continuing efforts to bring about peace, not only in Maguindanao del Sur, but also in other parts of the region,” Catu said.
Maguindanao del Sur is one of the five provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
He stressed that the leaflet dropping activities aimed to convince remnants of BIFF–Bungos faction and DI-Hassan Group to avail of the government’s serious peace offer.
Major General Jose Vladimir R. Cagara, 6th Infantry Division commander, lauded the 601st brigade for the efforts even as he urged the remnants of DI and the BIFF to lay down their guns, grab the opportunity to live peacefully with their loved ones, and abandon violent extremism.
Cagara also urged local government units in Maguindanao del Sur to help promote the national government’s reconciliation and disarmament programs.
Well, lo and behold it worked! At least they persuaded one man to surrender.
A Moro extremist surrendered with his rifle to military authorities this week following a leaflet-dropping operation in Maguindanao del Sur, the Army reported Wednesday.
Sala Guiaman Guiamadel, a member of an extremist group, turned himself and an M16 rifle in to the Army's 601st Infantry Brigade, the command said in a statement.
Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, the brigade commander, along with Mamasapano Mayor Akmad A. Ampatuan Jr., welcomed Guiamadel's surrender.
On Sunday, Philippine Air Force helicopters dropped leaflets urging members of the Dawlah Islamiyah and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters to surrender and accept government peace offers.
Catu said the mission was non-combative and aimed to counter misinformation.
Maj. Gen. Vladimir Cagara, the Army's 6th Infantry Division commander, praised the surrender and urged other militants to follow.
In a separate event Wednesday in Datu Anggal Midtimbang town, local officials and residents turned over eight high-powered firearms to the military as part of a disarmament program.
Town Mayor Nathaniel Midtimbang pledged continued support for the initiative, saying it benefits community peace.
Of course correlation does not equal causation. Maybe he was determined to surrender before the leaflets were airdropped. No doubt he will be able to apply for amnesty and livelihood aid.
Former conflict-stricken areas in Leyte are receiving livelihood aid packages.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Leyte provincial office on Monday distributed the Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa (PPG) business kits to 114 members of the Integrated Peace and Development Workers’ Association (IPDWA) in Baybay City, Ormoc City, and the town of Hilongos in Leyte.
The assistance forms part of the government’s livelihood and peacebuilding efforts for residents of areas previously affected by armed conflict and former rebels.
The livelihood packages include sari-sari store kits, rice-retailing packages, and hog-raising starter kits aimed at supporting income generation and economic recovery.
Of the total beneficiaries, 51 IPDWA members are from Baybay City, 23 from Ormoc City, and 40 from Hilongos.
Representatives from the 93rd Infantry Battalion said livelihood programs help promote peace and community strength by enabling beneficiaries to become self-reliant and productive.
DTI Leyte Provincial Director Faustino Gayas Jr. said the PPG program aims to help beneficiaries rebuild their lives through entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
Gayas said the continued implementation of the program reflects the government’s whole-of-nation approach to peace, recovery, and long-term development in the province.
“We are thankful to our partner stakeholders since continued implementation of the PPG program forms part of the government’s whole-of-nation approach to advancing peace, recovery, and long-term development in the province,” he added.
The distribution of livelihood kits also highlights the strong partnership between the DTI and the Philippine Army in supporting socio-economic programs for communities in Leyte.
Business kits? Are these kits available to law abiding citizens? Can one walk into a DTI office and apply for that kind of assistance? This kind of help is available through the Livelihood Seeding Program-Negosyo Serbisyo sa Barangay.
One NPA member was killed in a firefight in Sorsogon.
One member of New People’s Army was killed, and high-powered firearms were seized following an encounter with government troops in Sorsogon province on Tuesday morning, military officials said.
Troops from the 31st Infantry Battalion clashed with members of the New People’s Army at the boundary of Barangay Banban in Donsol town and Barangay Catamlangan in Pilar town at about 9 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2026.
The fatality was identified as Bernardo Bodigon, also known as “Rico,” who was described by the military as a remnant of Sub-Regional Committee 3 under the Bicol Regional Party Committee.
Soldiers recovered two M16 rifles, assorted equipment and one improvised explosive device from the encounter site. Military officials said the use of improvised explosive devices is prohibited due to the danger they pose to civilians in nearby communities.
The group involved in the clash was reportedly led by Edgar Calag, also known as “Lucio,” who is wanted for multiple criminal cases, including murder and rape, according to the military.
Pursuit operations are ongoing to locate the remaining members of Sub-Regional Committee 3 in the area, the Army said.
Lt. Col. Clint Chester De Ocampo, commanding officer of the 31st Infantry Battalion, said Calag has been using the NPA as cover for his alleged criminal activities and stressed that crimes committed against civilians must be answered with justice.
Brig. Gen. Emil Cruz, commander of the 901st Infantry Brigade, said the operation was part of efforts to maintain peace and security, particularly in rural areas. He urged remaining NPA members to surrender, saying their families are waiting for them.
The 31st Infantry Battalion operates under the 901st Infantry Brigade, which is responsible for security operations in Donsol and Pilar towns in Sorsogon, as well as the first and second districts of Albay province.
He won't be getting any livelihood assistance or amnesty.
A journalist and another activist were recently convicted of financing terrorism. The case seems quite problematic. Rights groups and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines call it a travesty of justice based on lies.
Rights groups are calling the conviction of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio on Thursday, January 22, a "miscarriage of justice" that resulted from a deliberate plot by the NTF-ELCAC to crush independent journalism in the country.
Judge Georgina Perez of the Regional Trial Court Branch 45 in Tacloban City sentenced Cumpio, 26, and lay worker Marielle Domequil, 28, to at least 12 years in prison for allegedly funding the New People's Army in 2019, while acquitting both on weapons charges.
The verdict comes after more than six years of detention for Cumpio and Domequil, arrested in a February 2020 raid that rights groups say was designed to punish the journalist's coverage of military abuses in Eastern Visayas.
Cumpio's case is well-known by rights groups and press freedom groups worldwide and had drawn the attention of Amal Clooney's Clooney Foundation for Justice, support from hundreds of journalists worldwide, and a 2024 prison visit from United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan.
Press freedom groups had closely watched the case as a test of whether the Marcos administration would break from its predecessor's pattern of using terrorism charges to silence journalists.
Cumpio has long maintained her innocence, and observers say her conviction now threatens to set a precedent for prosecuting community reporters who cover military abuses.
'Justice system weaponized'
"This conviction is a blatant affirmation of how the justice system is being weaponized through NTF-ELCAC's lies and persecution," said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of human rights alliance KARAPATAN. "Frenchie and Marielle were not targeted because of evidence, but because of who they are and the work they do among the people."
Palabay said the acquittal on weapons charges confirms the accusations were fabricated from the start. "Yet the same web of lies, perjured testimonies, and manufactured intelligence was used to railroad the remaining conviction," she said.
The charges stemmed from allegations that in 2019, in Catbalogan, Samar, Cumpio and Domequil delivered cash and provided logistical support to the NPA, violating the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.
Palabay said the prosecution failed to establish the essential elements of terrorism financing, relying instead on intelligence claims treated as facts and testimonies that "collapsed under scrutiny."
"For nearly six years, Frenchie and Marielle endured prolonged detention, multiple criminal cases, asset freezing, and relentless red-tagging, all without credible, direct, or independent evidence," Palabay said. "Today's conviction institutionalizes lies and fabrications as acceptable substitutes for proof."
Kyle Domequil, Marielle's sister and convenor of the Free Tacloban 5 Network, said the verdict "prolongs the suffering" of the two women and their families.
"We reject this ruling and condemn the state's continued use of the courts as instruments of political persecution," the network said. "We stand with Frenchie and Marielle, with their families and communities, and with all political prisoners under the Marcos Jr. administration—now 761 strong as of February 2025."
'Partial victory'
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) called the weapons acquittal a partial victory but condemned the terrorism financing conviction.
"The verdict is an injustice, especially in light of a Court of Appeals reversal in the forfeiture case for the money confiscated in their arrest," NUJP said. "We have held from the start that the charges against them are trumped up and are products of a questionable arrest and testimony from dubious witnesses."
The group said the conviction does not bode well for the media's ability to report on issues without fear of reprisal and retribution.
"Her case has been emblematic of the challenged state of press freedom, and more broadly of freedom of speech and expression, in the Philippines," NUJP said.
International condemnation
Reporters Without Borders and members of the #FreeFrenchieMaeCumpio coalition were present in court for the verdict, alongside representatives from Switzerland, Czech Republic and New Zealand as part of the Media Freedom Coalition.
"We are appalled by this verdict," said Aleksandra Bielakowska, RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau advocacy manager. "The RSF investigations and evidence presented in court by Frenchie Mae Cumpio's lawyers clearly show how fabricated this case has been from the very beginning."
Bielakowska called the conviction "a devastating failure on the part of the Philippine justice system and the authorities' blatant disregard for press freedom."
"The Philippines should serve as an international example of protecting media freedom—not a perpetrator that red-tags, prosecutes and imprisons journalists simply for doing their work," she said. "This sentence only highlights the systemic issues in the country and the urgent need for comprehensive reforms."
The Committee to Protect Journalists also condemned the verdict and called on authorities to immediately free Cumpio.
"This absurd verdict shows that the various pledges made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to uphold press freedom are nothing but empty talk," said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ Asia-Pacific director. "Although the journalist was cleared on the charge of illegal possession of firearms, the ruling underscores the lengths that Philippine authorities are willing to go to silence critical reporting."
Last year, in 2025, the Court of Appeals reversed the forfeiture case for terror financing saying there is another credible evidence these ladies were connected to the CPP-NPA.
The Court of Appeals (CA) has voided the forfeiture case previously filed against journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights advocate Mariel Domequil.
In a 27-page ruling dated October 29, the appellate court reversed the decision of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), which had granted the civil forfeiture case brought by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
The amount seized by the AMLC in December 2022 totaled P557,360.
“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. It must be emphasized that enshrined in ATA’s declaration of policy is the state’s duty to protect life, liberty, and property. 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 root causes of terrorism.”
What led to the forfeiture: Cumpio and Domequil were initially arrested on Feb. 7, 2020, following a police raid in Tacloban City based on allegations of illegal possession of firearms and membership in the New People's Army.
During the raid, authorities seized a cash box containing P557,360. Subsequently, the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group requested that this money be forfeited to the government.
The Manila RTC sided with the police, ruling that there was sufficient reason to believe the seized funds were linked to unlawful activity under the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.
The RTC placed the funds under the custody of the AMLC and ordered their forfeiture. This decision ultimately led Cumpio and Domequil to file their petition with the CA.
What is civil forfeiture? According to the AMLC, civil forfeiture refers to the “non-conviction-based proceedings aimed at forfeiting, in favor of the government, monetary instruments or properties related to an unlawful activity or money laundering offense.”
Ruling. The CA, however, did not affirm the ruling of the RTC.
Wrong governing law. According to the CA, the RTC failed to apply the law for terrorism-related civil forfeiture.
The CA said that the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (ATA) and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) impliedly repealed the civil forfeiture provisions concerning terrorism financing found in the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 (TFPSA).
“Given the all-encompassing approach of the ATA in the state’s efforts to prevent and suppress terrorism along the politico-legal framework of the TFPSA, the Court is therefore of the view that the ATA and the ATA-IRR impliedly repealed the civil forfeiture provisions of the TFPSA,” the ruling read.
“Hence, insofar as the provisions on terrorism and civil forfeiture in the AMLA and the TFPSA are concerned, the guidelines laid down in the ATA and the ATA-IRR must govern,” it added.
Failure to prove lawful designation. The appellate court said that the AMLC failed to demonstrate that Cumpio and Domequil were lawfully designated as terrorists.
The CA, citing a Supreme Court ruling, explained that Cumpio and Domequil were only “designated” by the AMLC as terrorists based on the automatic adoption of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Consolidated List, which is a mode of designation under the ATA.
However, the court said that the AMLC failed to provide proof of Cumpio and Domequil’s designation as their names do not appear on any of the documents presented or in the list published by the UNSC.
“The allegations against Cumpio and Domequil, whose names do not appear on any of the documents presented or in the list published by the UNSC, can hardly qualify as a designation under the first mode in Rule VI,” the appellate court’s ruling read.
“A careful review of the evidence at hand, moreover, reveals that there is a dearth of reason to believe that the respondents-appellants were or are connected to the CPP-NPA,” it added.
So, one court says they are not engaged in terrorism financing and another court says they are. How is this possible? Of course, the NTF-ELCAC has welcomed their conviction.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Thursday welcomed the ruling of a regional trial court convicting two activists of financing terrorism.
NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. said the conviction of Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Marielle Domequil by Regional Trial Court Branch 45 in Tacloban City is proof that the justice system works independently and on the basis of evidence.
RTC Branch 45, a designated anti-terrorism court, presided over by Judge Georgina Perez, found Cumpio and Domequil guilty of terrorism financing under Republic Act 10168.
The court, however, cleared them of illegal possession of firearms and explosives charges.
The International Monetary Funds defines terrorism financing as involving the raising and processing of funds to supply terrorists with resources.
“We welcome and respect the ruling,” Torres said while stressing that the case was supported by sworn testimonies, financial records and material evidence showing the deliberate handling of funds for a terrorist organization, acts penalized under the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.
Torres added that the acquittal on the firearms case strengthened the credibility of the judiciary.
“The same court that acquitted them of one charge convicted them of another after a full trial. This demolishes claims of political persecution and shows judicial independence,” he said.
The two were among the “Tacloban 5,” arrested in a Feb. 7, 2020 raid on alleged communist safe houses. Authorities seized firearms, grenades, communist flags and more than PHP557,000 in cash during the operation.
Cumpio was then executive director of alternative news outlet Eastern Vista, while Domequil worked as a lay worker for the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.
Their co-accused Philip Abinguna of Karapatan, Mira Legion of Bayan and Marissa Cabaljao of People Surge are out on bail while their cases remain pending.
Again, how is this possible? The NTF-ELCAC says the case was "supported by sworn testimonies, financial records and material evidence showing the deliberate handling of funds for a terrorist organization." Yet the Court of Appeals rejected that testimony. The only solution will be for the Court of Appeals to make a ruling on this conviction.
