Photo from Abra Province facebook page
BAGUIO CITY—Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who chairs the Cordillera Peace and Order Council, on Monday (May 2) said Abra province is again under tight monitoring following the daylight gunfight in March that led to charges and countercharges between the police and town officials.
“Pilar had never been a tense area before,” said Magalong, who once served as a Cordillera police director, at this week’s flag raising ceremony. He was referring to the Abra town where the gunfight took place last March 30.
Police were manning a checkpoint when a van sped through, leading to a chase.
The van turned out to be carrying a private security team hired by Pilar Vice Mayor Jaja Josefina Somera-Disono and slipped past the checkpoint, which led to a standoff.
One of the vice mayor’s security men died after the gunfight. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) charged Cordillera and Abra police officials with murder last month.
According to the NBI investigation, the convoy of Disono was deliberately fired upon by police officers.
But police had also charged Disono with violating election gun laws and human trafficking when the vice mayor’s bodyguards claimed they were duped into believing they were hired to train members of her staff.
Abra had not been a hot spot in past elections when political clans dismantled their private armed groups.
“Abra should choose the right leaders. Nothing will change if they don’t choose the right leaders,” Magalong said.
Reelectionist Sen. Richard Gordon asked about Abra when he made a courtesy call on Magalong on Monday.
“Why can’t violence stop there?” Gordon told the mayor.
Last April 29, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) raised the hot spot classification of Pilar in Abra from orange to red following the gunfight.
The orange category refers to areas with serious threats by terrorists and other armed groups, while the red category classification is for areas with a political climate that would require the declaration of Comelec control.
Magalong also said the government has been keeping tabs on COVID-19, hoping “a new surge” would not lead to a poor turnout on May 9.
A surge, he said, “will happen, no doubt about it but we hope it won’t happen on Election Day.”