By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES
AN improvised bomb exploded at the Bangued Municipal Hall at dawn today, the inauguration day of newly elected provincial officials.
The explosion, which damaged P50,000 worth of property, happened at about 2 a.m., according to Abra Police Provincial Director Senior Superintendent Joseph Adnol.
The police report said an “improvised bomb was left by unidentified person in front of the municipal hall” and partially damaged “the frontage ceiling of the building.”
“No person was hurt” and the motive was to “disrupt peace in the area,” the police report read.
During the campaign period, the situation in Bangued was tense as Ryan Luna sought to unseat incumbent Dominic Valera. Although Luna succeeded in his mayoral bid, his mother Cecilia Seares-Luna lost to Valera’s daughter, Ma. Jocelyn Bernos, as representative of the lone district of Abra.
As police conduct further investigation, Luna told VERA Files that the bombing could have been done by someone who was bitter about the election results.
“If you were given a house, would you destroy it knowing that you will be living in that house?” he asked. Luna said his inauguration will push through at his residence in Barangay Dangdangla, Bangued.
Valera for his part said he had just found out about the explosion when asked to give his side.
“The last time I was there (municipal hall) was last June 28. We were not allowed to enter by Luna’s people then,” Valera said.
He added that because of this, municipal employees did not receive their salary and that the police could not do anything about the presence of Luna’s men in the municipal hall.
In response, Adnol said, “Wala namang gulo, andun lang sila, wala kaming karapatan paalisin ang isang tao na wala namang masamang ginagawa (There was no trouble. They were just there. We could not just drive away people who weren’t doing anything wrong).”
Luna admitted that they had been keeping close watch at the town hall because Valera planned to withdraw the remaining 25 million budget of Bangued, an issue which Valera denied.
Valera was earlier held under hospital arrest for the alleged murder of Mario Acena, a Luna supporter but the Department of Justice recently cleared him of the charges.