Abra 
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Voters excluded in gold-rich Abra town
By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.— Two days before elections, 262 people were removed from the list of registered voters in the town of Licuan-Baay after the court approved the motion for exclusion filed by two of its mayoral candidates. Election Officer Carmelita Bayquen said the Lagangilang Municipal Trial Court approved the motion of mayoral candidates »Read More
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CAFGUs in Abra loyal to politicians?
By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.—A detachment of the Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit in Lagayan town was dissolved after its members were found to have been in the employ of local politicians. Col. Essel Soriano, commanding officer of the 503rd Infantry Brigade, confirmed the dissolution of the CAFGU detachment in Lagayan town, where the »Read More
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Councilor nabbed for illegal possession of firearms; Valera paraffin test negative
By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.—A councilor of Lagayan town and six of his companions, including two minors, were arrested Friday afternoon for illegal possession of firearms at a checkpoint in Barangay Alaoa in Tineg. George Taguinod, 38, was driving a “military look-a-like truck bearing the license plate number RJU 838,” according to a memorandum »Read More
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Violence marks battle for Abra towns with big IRA
By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.—In the afternoon of March 23 this year, 50 heavily armed guards of mayoral candidate Cromwell Luna appeared at the kindergarten graduation of Tineg Central School in Barangay Agsimao in Tineg town. Eyewitnesses said children wailed, old men and women cried, while the rest scampered for cover as the men »Read More
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Bangued pol supporter shot; cop, armed companion arrested
By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.— A political supporter of a mayoralty candidate here was shot this morning while helping cook for the wedding of a relative in Barangay Calot. Elmer Velasco was shot four times–in the chest and right forearm–at his relative’s house in Sitio Laylay at 7:30 a.m but is now in stable condition at »Read More
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Election campaign, Abra-style
By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.—Ryan Luna goes around campaigning in barangays here on board one of his army-type trucks that people often mistake for military vehicles. Luna, the son of Congresswoman Cecilia Seares-Luna, is the incumbent president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) and is running for mayor of this town. “There’s nothing »Read More
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Four wounded in Abra ambush
By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.–Four men, including a barangay councilor of this town, were wounded in what police confirmed was an ambush in Barangay Malamsit, Peñarrubia early this afternoon. The victims were with Bangued mayoral candidate Ryan Luna aboard a three-vehicle convoy which had just come from a campaign sortie in Barangay Sappaac when »Read More
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Firearms stolen from Bangued RTC evidence room
By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.–Firearms confiscated from private armed groups (PAGs) were stolen from the evidence room of the Regional Trial Court Branch 2 located at the Don Quintin Paredes Hall of Justice here. Police confirmed that at least two of the firearms belonged to a member of the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA). »Read More
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Abra mayor nabs 2 farm helpers suspected as ‘imported goons’
BY ARTHA KIRA PAREDES TWO farm helpers were arrested in Bangued, Abra on Tuesday by a group of 10 men led by a mayor and a police officer on suspicion that they were “imported goons” of Bangued Mayor Dominic Valera. Valera immediately denied the allegations even as Lagayan Mayor Jendricks Luna and PO3 Benedict Bobias, who »Read More
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Two wounded in Abra ambush
By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES TWO people were wounded in an ambush in Abra early morning yesterday, one of them a political supporter of Bangued Mayor Dominic Valera. Robert Villastique, 38, and his live-in partner, Ofelia Garcia, 40, were on board a motorcycle when they were shot at in Sitio Sukib, Barangay Lubong in Bangued around 8:30 »Read More
