Women’s Month is marking its end, but the conditions it seeks to surface remain in the everyday work of women journalists.

Across newsrooms and on the ground, women in media continue to face what the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility describes as a “two-fold” risk: targeted as professionals for their reporting, and at the same time, made vulnerable to gender-based attacks aiming to undermine their credibility.

A 2025 research by the Movement for the Safety and Welfare of Women Journalists (We-Move) reports that women journalists in the Philippines struggle with abuse of power or authority and attempts to damage their reputation.

While not always reported, there are also frequent incidents of sexual harassment in the form of inappropriate remarks, intrusive questions about their personal lives and unwanted physical contact occurring even as they are performing their duties on the job.

As We-Move suggests, these are not only violations of press freedom, but also are human rights issues in their own right.

Yet despite these threats, women’s contributions to Philippine journalism remain no less critical and indispensable. Women reporters, editors, photographers, producers, correspondents and other media practitioners continue to expand the boundaries of the profession with tenacity equal to that of their peers, regardless of gender.

But their very commitment should not be mistaken for mere resilience. We recognize instead that this is forged within machismo and feudal structures pervading Philippine society within and beyond media institutions.

To recognize women journalists, then, we have to both celebrate their work as well as challenge the conditions that make that work more difficult than it should be.

One of these women stands out in the person of Frenchie Mae Cumpio.

She, along with Marielle Domequil, is part of the Tacloban 5. While they were recently acquitted of fabricated charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, they remain detained on allegations of financing terrorism.

The attention from media outfits, both local and international, is not surprising, as the outcome of their cases will set a precedent for how anti-terrorism policies may be used against journalists — marking the first instance of its kind, and, we hope, the last.

Cumpio’s case reminds us that the threats confronting journalists today operate on multiple fronts: from harassment and vilification perpetuated by state actors to institutional and legal pressures that can curtail the very act of reporting.

The collective demand for conditions where journalists can do their work freely and safely continues.

The Union of Journalists of the Philippines – UP stands firmly with women journalists who persist in the face of gendered threats, and condemns the macho-feudal system that allows such conditions to exist.

At the same time, we call for accountability in cases that endanger press freedom at large, including the ongoing detention of Cumpio.