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We will bust Abra armed groups, says new Cordillera PNP director
BY MAR T. SUPNAD AND DEXTER A. SEE

CAMP BADO DANGWA, La Trinidad, Benguet – The newly designated regional director of the Cordillera police office bared police would dismantle the remaining private armed groups (PAGs) being maintained by politicians in Abra.

In his first command conference here attended by the six police provincial directors, the chief of police of Baguio City, and other heads of support units, Chief Supt. Eugene Martin declared there will be no sacred cows in his campaign to make the Cordillera safe for everybody.

This is the reason, he said, why Task Force Abra, which was formed to bolster peacekeeping efforts in the conflict-rocked province would stay due to the still unstable peace and order situation.

During the first half of the year, Abra reported an alarming crime volume which accounted for almost 50 percent of the total crime incidents in the Cordillera.

Killings and shooting incidents were still rampant in the province.

To help deter the commission of crimes, an internal defense force in the province, particularly in this provincial capital where many of the crimes were committed, was created. Also, strict enforcement of the gun ban is continuously pursued.

The gun ban in the province, which covers individuals who have permits to carry from Camp Crime before the May 14 elections, has not been lifted.

Meanwhile, Martin said he is banking on the ingenuity and effectiveness of the customary laws and traditional practices in peace-keeping in Cordillera Region to help in the restoration of peace.

He expressed confidence that the existing cultural and traditional mechanisms for the peace-keeping task in the region are adequate for the maintenance of peace and order in the upland.

A true-blooded Cordilleran who has served in the Cordillera provinces for so many years, Martin is familiar with the distinct culture of the Cordillera people.

Martin also said 90 percent of policemen in various municipal stations will be deployed in the field so they can boost drive against street crimes, among others.

He said only 10 percent of the policemen will be assigned to do office work in municipal stations and provincial offices.

Martin was recently designated by Philippine National Police Chief Director General Oscar Calderon to replace Chief Supt. Raul Gonzales who retired from the service.

Calderon said that he did not have a hard time choosing General Martin because he was recommended by congressmen and local officials in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Meanwhile, Senior Supt. Alexander Pumecha, director of the Abra provincial police office, said that the local police is doing its best to maintain peace and order in the 2007 towns of the province.

Elected provincial and municipal officials vowed to make peace a top priority in their areas to enable them to attain economic progress, especially in far-flung communities.

Pumecha said that the police visibility and checkpoint operations have been stepped up to monitor the activities of criminal elements sowing fear in different parts of the province.

Abra has been notoriously known as the “killing fields of the North” due to the continuing violence that had claimed the lives of many innocent individuals and politicians over the past few decades.