Baguio journo red-tagged in online post

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – Sherwin De Vera, managing editor of Northern Dispatch, was red-tagged in a Facebook post on August 12. FB user Allen Dondon uploaded photos of De Vera with former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary, Judy Taguiwalo and former Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate, with a caption accusing him of being an officer of the New People’s Army.

De Vera is a known community journalist and environmental defender. He is also a contributor to Rappler. 

In an August 15 statement, the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) – Baguio-Benguet said De Vera was a guest speaker at the first Media and Information Summit of the La Trinidad Sangguniang Kabataan (LT-SK), during which Dondon allegedly shared a video castigating LT-SK for inviting De Vera as speaker. Despite the online attack, De Vera continued with his talk on misinformation and fake news. 

It was not the first time De Vera has been a victim of red-tagging and other attacks. In 2017, he was arrested and charged with rebellion, which a local court dismissed in 2020 for lack of evidence. In 2018, De Vera was among those named in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) supposed list of terrorist communist leaders. But the Ilocos Sur Provincial Board passed a resolution in support of De Vera’s innocence.

The Baguio Chronicle on August 15 fact-checked the FB post and pointed out that “red taggers are back in stride putting targeted people in danger.” They also correctly noted that “red-tagged individuals are vulnerable to death threats and violence.” NUJP Baguio-Benguet condemned “the malicious and baseless accusations hurled against De Vera” and demanded that authorities investigate the incident to protect journalists and truth-tellers from disinformation.

Apart from De Vera, the alternative media’s website has been subjected to online attacks; its staff charged with libel and cyberlibel, which are repeatedly dismissed; last year, its reporter threatened to delete photos. Fellow media should continue to report on such cases and track the pattern stifling press freedom. After all, an attack to one is an attack to all.