Kin of slain Abra mayor see justice coming soon

Justice has eluded the family of an Abra town mayor who was gunned down two years ago yesterday.

But former Abra governor Andres Bernos, 70, father of slain La Paz mayor Mark Israel Bernos, is not losing hope, saying he’s confident that the police are on the right track in going after the killers of his son.

“The people are not afraid anymore and have openly been talking about the case,” he said.

“The case of my son is getting clearer each day. I’m confident that the police would be able to crack the case in a matter of time,” he added. “There’s now light at the end of the tunnel.”

The Bernos family offered Masses yesterday in churches in La Paz and Bangued towns in Abra and in Galas, Quezon City, which were frequented by the young Bernos when he was still alive, to pray for justice and his eternal rest.

The young Bernos, then 31, was watching a basketball game during the fiesta celebration of La Paz town on Jan. 13, 2006 when he was gunned down.

Police are eyeing the same set of suspects in the murders of Bernos and Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin and his police bodyguard, PO2 Adelfo Ortega, who were shot dead in front the Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City on Dec. 16, 2006. One of the arrested suspects in the Bersamin ambush-slay, former La Paz vice mayor Freddie Dupo, claimed that the mastermind in the Bernos killing paid P3 million to six people for the hit job.

Dupo offered the information in the course of the police investigation into the Bersamin murder.

However, like Cordillera police director Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin, the elder Bernos believes that Dupo is still withholding vital information on his son’s murder.

“I have talked to a lot of people regarding the case of my son. And they are now revealing important information that is slowly helping us piece together the remaining puzzle in Mark Israel’s murder,” said the elder Bernos.

He said Dupo has invited him to visit at his custodial cell in Camp Crame to “talk about the case of Mark Israel.”

“I have to talk to people like Dupo because their statements would greatly help us in getting a clear picture of the murder and the eventual filing of cases against the mastermind and the suspects in court,” said the former governor.

He said he is sharing the information he has personally gathered with Superintendent Jess Cambay, intelligence chief of the Cordillera police.