Claim: Baguio journalist is CPP-NPA-NDF member

Rating: FALSE

A post shared with us through our tipline claims 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 a 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 DeVera.
(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.- AC