Claim: Baguio journalist is CPP-NPA-NDF member
Rating: FALSE
A post shared with us through our tipline is claiming that Baguio-based journalist Sherwin De Vera is associated with the CPP-NPA-NDF as a former Political Officer of the NPA involved in atrocities.
This is false.
De Vera, currently the editor for the Northern Dispatch, was also coordinator for the Defend Ilocos environment movement, during which he was charged with rebellion and 49 counts of attempted murder (https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/…/sherwin-de-vera…).
However, the charges of rebellion were junked by an Abra court as the “state had no evidence to present” against De Vera.(https://web.archive.org/…/court-junks-rebellion-raps…/).
The Philippine Army filed charges against De Vera, but the sole witness presented did not name De Vera.
After De Vera’s release on bail, the DOJ included his name in a list of supposed terrorist communist leaders, which the DOJ admitted was not subject to independent verification of connections of individuals to the CPP-NPA-NDF. The Ilocos Sur Provincial Board subsequently passed a resolution in support of De Vera’s innocence (https://tawidnewsmag.com/ilocos-sur-provincial-board…/).
No definitive connection between De Vera and the CPP-NPA-NDF has been proven to this day.
Why we fact-checked this: The red taggers are back in stride putting targeted people into danger and undermining schools and other educational institutions from making their own choices. Red-tagged individuals are vulnerable to death threats and violence. In some instances, targets of red-tagging are also harassed by accusations of terrorism.
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