Not guilty, pleads Balweg slay suspect

BANGUED, Abra — A lay worker of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), nabbed in his home in Sudipen, La Union last week in connection with the 1999 killing of former rebel-priest Conrado Balweg, pleaded not guilty yesterday.

Clarence Austin, assisted by Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) lawyer Hanzel Angelito Duque, entered a not guilty plea during arraignment in the sala of Judge Corpuz Alzate of the Abra Regional Trial Court Branch 2.

Austin maintained his innocence in the Dec. 31, 1999 execution of Balweg by New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas in Malibcong town in this province.

Austin was arrested last Aug. 28, and was presented to the media the following day as one of Balweg’s killers. He was tagged as a ranking NPA leader.

Rev. Lyndon Palangdao, moderator of the UCCP’s Ilocos Sur-Abra Conference, said Austin was "falsely accused" like what happened to 14 other workers of the UCCP and Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) also implicated in the Balweg killing.

Palangdao said Austin had been working with him in the UCCP’s peasant program prior to his arrest.

Austin’s wife Vangie, cuddling their five-year-old daughter Katrina, sobbed as she told The STAR that her husband could not be a killer.

"He was working for the poor, and is not a gunman," she said.

At least a hundred leaders of the UCCP, IFI and Ilocos peasant groups trooped to the court to see Austin and give him their moral support.