700 cops, soldiers to be deployed in Abra

MANILA, Philippines - At least 700 police and Army personnel will be deployed in Abra to vigorously go after the private armies of politicians and preserve peace and order in the province during the May 10 elections.

The deployment came on the heels of the killing of Mario Acena, a driver of Bangued mayoral bet Ryan Luna, and two other shooting incidents since last week, said Chief Superintendent Villamor Bumanlag, Cordillera police director.

“We will deploy our forces either on Monday or Tuesday. We will prioritize the campaign against private armies of politicians to prevent a repeat of the killing of Acena and other violent incidents in the province,” he said.

Luna was campaigning in Barangay Cosili West in Bangued last Thursday when Acena was allegedly shot dead by incumbent Mayor Dominic Valera and his police escort PO2 Joseph Barreras.

Abra prosecutor Nestor Tolentino placed Valera and Barreras under police custody. Valera is confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City.

Valera has denied the allegation. His legal counsel, Raymond Fortun, yesterday said it was the mayor who was ambushed.

Alleging that there was a “conspiracy” to kill Valera, Fortun said they are filing murder charges “against individuals who claimed to be witnesses to the shooting incident.”

Fortun said they would also seek the relief of the entire Task Force Abra and replacement of Abra police director Senior Superintendent Ernesto Gaab, as they were “disgusted” with the police investigation.       – With Jerry Botial and Artemio Dumlao