Abra governor ‘brains’ behind Benwaren slay?

BAGUIO CITY — A vigilante group calling itself the Alliance of Brave, Reformed and Armed Brothers (ABRA Brothers) charged yesterday that Abra Gov. Vicente Valera was the brains behind the assassination of Tineg town mayor Clarence Benwaren in Laguna last Oct. 28.

Valera dismissed as "baseless" the allegation of ABRA Brothers, and even dared the group to provide information about the killing to probers.

Police Region 4 regional director Enrique Galang Jr. has maintained that the New People’s Army is still the "most probable" killers of Benwaren, although he was not discounting political rivalry as another angle in the crime.

The new vigilante group, however, insists on tagging Valera as the brains behind the killing that has spawned tension in Bangued, Abra’s capital town.

ABRA Brothers have been waging a text campaign against Valera since Friday, saying: "GOV VICSYD VALERA MURDERED MAYOR BOYET BENWAREN. VALERA IS D MASTERMIND. PLEASE PASS SO THE PEOPLE MAY KNOW!"

It used the cellular phone number 09204237380. When The STAR tried to call the number, nobody answered.

Valera vehemently denied ABRA Brothers’ charges.

"I have a clean conscience," he said. "In fact, I condemned the assassination as an act of cowardice."

Apparently in response to text messages against Valera, the governor’s supporters have been sending a barrage of text messages to the press not to believe the claim of ABRA Brothers.

Another text barrage accused Bucloc Mayor Mailed Molina and Sr. Supt. Eugene Martin as brains of the Benwaren killing.

Molina, chief of the paramilitary group Cordillera People’s Liberation Army, is a known anti-Valera.

Molina and Martin could not be contacted for comment as of press time.

Meanwhile, Valera dismissed as pure falsehood a story in another paper claiming that most of the Abra mayors have gone to Hong Kong to escape the heat in the aftermath of the Benwaren killing.

Valera said the newspaper was apparently inferring that they have something to do with the killing and have fled to avoid reprisals.

He said that it was Abra Rep. Chito Bersamin and some mayors who have gone to Hong Kong to attend the activities arranged by contract workers from Abra.

Valera admitted that he and his wife, Bangued Mayor Cita Valera, were invited to the annual OFW rites in Hong Kong, but they declined this time.

Mrs. Valera said that the gathering was arranged long before the death of Benwaren.

"It has nothing to do with his murder," she stressed.

Benwaren will be buried Wednesday in Bangued amid tight security in the capital town

Benwaren’s casket will be marched through Bangued’s main avenues, before the burial. The Cordillera PNP will beef up security.

Valera said he has prepared necrological services for Benwaren at the provincial capital before the interment.

The Benwaren family, however, has not yet responded to the offer. — With Teddy Molina