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 a.m.
Villastique sustained gunshot wounds in his shoulder and abdomen and Garcia in the back, according to Abra Provincial Director Police Senior Superintendent Ernesto Gaab. Garcia remains in critical condition.
The police found seven empty shells of a .45 caliber gun. Gaab said one of the suspects, Jonel Valera, had been arrested while Michael Bringas and Terivic Bigornia are at large.
Authorities could not ascertain if the crime was politically motivated as the investigation, according to Gaab, is still ongoing.
Valera’s daughter, Joy Valera-Bernos, said Villastique is among Dominic’s security detail and a “political leader in charge of supporters in Lubong.”
The suspects, meanwhile, are “known supporters” of Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) President Ryan Luna.
Luna, while admitting that he knew the suspects, said he did not have any reason to have the victims killed. He asked: “Can he make Dominic win?”
Luna, son of incumbent Abra Rep. Cecilia Luna, is challenging the re-election bid of Valera in the May elections. Cecilia, along with Bernos and Ma. Zita Valera, former Bangued mayor and wife of detained former governor Vicente Valera, are vying for the congressional seat.
The Valeras have ruled Abra for decades. The Lunas and the Valeras used to be allies and are distant relatives. But in 2005, Luna filed attempted murder charges against Vicente Valera after a botched attempt to assassinate her and her family.
Bangued is among the 76 towns in the country declared by the Philippine National Police as an election hotspot. Ten of Abra’s 27 municipalities had consistently been in the hotspot watchlist. The police recorded 18 election-related violence (ERV) incidents in 2004 and 17 in 2007.
Of the total national ERV killings in the country in the past three elections, 16 percent occurred in Abra, according the recent study of the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) on electoral violence in the province.
Harassments and killings in Abra are at their peak six months before and after the election, it showed. From January to May in 2007, for instance, the PNP recorded 13 ERV incidents, leaving 12 people dead and nine wounded. Majority of the victims were campaign supporters.
“A vicious cycle of violence, disempowerment, and abuse of authority preserves violent elections in Abra,” ASoG said.
The third-class province–with more than half of its population mired in poverty–is ruled by local elites who employ partisan/private armed groups (PAGs). In 2006, police reported the existence of 10 PAGs with 117 members in Abra.
In December 2009, the Department of National Defense revealed there are 132 private armies or private armed groups and over one million unlicensed firearms all over the country.