ENVIRONMENTAL activist Sherwin De Vera entered a not guilty plea before the Regional Trial Court in Bangued, Abra.
De Vera was caught by policemen on a bus in Ilocos Sur in December 12, last year on rebellion charges and has been at the Abra provincial jail since and faces attempted murder complaints filed by Philippine Army in connection with four alleged firefights between communist rebels and government soldiers.
The Abra-based 41st Infantry Battalion is accusing De Vera of participating in NPA attacks against their troopers in Lagangilang town on January 30, 2013; in Malibcong town on May 30, 2013 and in Licuan-Baay on February 16, 2014.
The 77th Infantry Battalion also suspected De Vera was with NPA rebels in an attack against the patrol base of its Charlie Company in Bucloc, Abra on October 25, 2013.
De Vera, regional coordinator of Defend-Ilocos Network for the Environment and convenor of “Amianan Salakniban” (Defend the North), claimed he has been tailed and accused by soldiers as a communist rebel since he was a student leader at the University of Northern Philippines.
On June 20, 2014, agents from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) reportedly approached one of his relatives and asked about his involvement with left-leaning organizations and protest rallies in the Ilocos region.
He was accused of having links with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
De Vera is perhaps the first in Northern Luzon who was caught after President Rodrigo Duterte announced a crackdown on leftist-activists after the breakdown of the government-NDF peace negotiations last quarter of 2017.