Workers of Abra electric coop manager shot dead

BANGUED, Abra -- The driver and employee of the manager of the Abra Electric Cooperative, which was involved in tension-filled district elections two weeks ago, were shot in Candon City, Ilocos Sur Sept. 28, signalling what could be the start of "political skirmishes" in Abra as the electoral season nears.

A raincoat-clad assassin pumped bullets from a 9 mm pistol into Joel Cruz, 37, driver of Abreco general manager Loreto Seares Jr., reports said.

The driver and Edison Guzman, another Abreco Engineering department employee, who was also shot on his leg, were reportedly taking Seares Jr.’s personal black BMW car for an air conditioner check-up at the MWL Airconditioning Center in barangay OaigDaya, Candon City when the assassin appeared from nowhere and targeted the victims.

Cruz, who is from Patucannay, Tayum town, Abra, bore gunshot wounds on his back while Guzman sustained a wound on his leg,

Though Seares Jr. did not accompany his employees during the incident, the shooting could be linked to the Sept. 15 elections of the electric cooperative in Bangued.

The elections were described as "highly politicized” by Cordillera police director Chief Supt. Benjamin Magalong.

Comelec Cordillera director Julius Torres, meanwhile, said Abra province is still an area of "concern" owing to its long history of bloody rivalries in the past.

After the filing of candidacies this Friday, he said, the poll body is set to meet with police officials to initiate measures for peaceful elections in the still troubled province.