THE environmental group Ilocos Network for the Environment (Defend Ilocos) last Sunday condemned the inclusion of its regional coordinator, Sherwin de Vera and other individuals, whose names were included in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) list of terrorists for supposedly being members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, New People’s Army (NPA).
De Vera was arrested in December 2017 by virtue of a warrant of arrest for alleged rebellion. He is currently out on bail.
Defend Ilocos said in a statement the allegation against de Vera was not terrorism nor association with the CPP-NPA, but “because of his involvement in the defense of the environment and human rights.”
“We are deeply concerned for his safety and the safety of other individuals as the petition looks like a tokhang list where any group, especially the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines, can just choose a name and arrest them, or worse, carry out an extrajudicial killing,” Defend Ilocos said.
“We believe that the inclusion of de Vera, as well as the other development workers, activists and human-rights advocates in the list, is a clear case of harassment meant to discourage the critics of the Duterte administration. We firmly believe this is part of the government crackdown against the people who have the courage to question the anti-people policies of this administration,” the group said.
Enlisting “dissenters,” the group added, is an act of cowardice of the Duterte administration and is “meant to discredit the people who are doing actual work in communities and delivering services to the people who receive little or no support from the government.”
“Ever since its creation, Defend Ilocos has been at the forefront of pursuing environmental justice for the people and communities of the Ilocos region. Our current work involves facing the many environmental and human-rights issues connected with large-scale and destructive mining, corporate energy projects [dams, coal power plant, solar/wind farms] and tourism programs in the region,” the groups said.
“Despite the harassment, we stand strong with Sherwin in the pursuit of environmental justice and human rights. We firmly state that Sherwin is not a terrorist and the government should stop all forms of human-rights violations against him and the Filipino people,” the group said.
The group called on the government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to seek a common ground and to resume the peace talks.
In a statement, de Vera said the allegation that he is a terrorist is “malicious and baseless.”
“My work as an environmentalist and human- rights advocate is not connected in any way with the CPP-NPA. I am ready to answer and prove that this allegation is false at the proper time and forum,” he said.
De Vera added being on the “terror” list placed him, including his family, on dangerous grounds.
“The peril is obvious with the results from Duterte’s tokhang list and his call for the killing of suspected rebels in exchange for monetary reward. It also puts us on the cross-hairs of Duterte’s army of online trolls that propagates hate and violence against those critical of his rule,” he said.
De Vera added he is not a member of the CPP-NPA, which the Duterte administration tagged as a terrorist organization after a falling out of peace negotiations last year.