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Tag Archives: vicente valera

Dec 16, 2011

The Bersamin killing: Who really benefited from his death?

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES
BANGUED, Abra.—Five years ago today, the then highest-ranking politician of Abra province was shot dead outside a church in Quezon City in broad daylight, signaling the fall of one of Abra’s most prominent families and the rise of other political dynasties. The killing also ushered in a period of intensified violence that has made the province one of the country’s most dangerous places, its capital Bangued the so-called “murder capital of the north.”

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The Bersamin killing: Who really benefited from his death?
Aug 22, 2011

No ‘sanctuary’ for Abra assassins

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES
IN olden times, churches were considered sanctuaries where even criminals could seek refuge from harm and arrest. That’s long in the past. In fact, churches may be among the worst places to commit a crime, especially when a wedding is taking place. On Dec. 16 five years ago, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in New Manila, Quezon City became the site of blood spill and murder.

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No ‘sanctuary’ for Abra assassins
Jul 14, 2011

Why Abra’s most powerful man fell from grace

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES
BANGUED, Abra—He spends his days in jail now, but former governor Vicente Isidro Valera once lived in a mansion on a mountaintop in Barangay Lingtan here from where he could gaze at the province of Abra, the kingdom he ruled for two decades. But since his arrest on September 2009, “home” to Valera has been the Bicutan Jail in Taguig City, devoid of all the comforts he once enjoyed as Abra’s head honcho.

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Why Abra’s most powerful man fell from grace