Shot
before Abra peace pact signing
BANGUED, Abra — Police are now trying to
establish identity of assailants who shot dead night of Dec. 4 the executive
secretary of the municipal mayor of La Paz town few hours before signing of
peace covenant among politicians dubbed “8th Abra Week for Peace” here, police
said.
Police said Noel Palos
Belena, 61, executive secretary of La Paz Mayor Joseph “JV” Bernos, was riding
his black Honda Bravo motorcycle along the La Paz-Lagayan Road in La Paz on his
way home around 11 p.m. Dec. 4 when he was shot in the back.
Jerry Bolante and
Jetrick Casel who were on board a tricycle passed by the victim slumped on the
road and took him to the Abra Provincial Hospital.
However, Belena was
pronounced dead on arrival by doctors who received him.
Mayor Bernos, who is
seeking a congressional seat in next year’s elections, said the killing of his
trusted man could have been politically-motivated.
But Supt. Antonio
Bartolome, Abra Police provincial office director, said misunderstanding
between Belena and another person at the cockpit arena where he had come from
prior to the shooting was the likely motive in his killing.
“Huwag sana gawing pulitika
ang insidenteng ito, dahil malaki ang aming
paniwalana personal grudge ang motibo sa pamamaslang (Let’s not make this
incident a political one, because we strongly believe the motive in this
killing is personal grudge),” said Bartolome.
He said probers are
also looking for a former policeman facing robbery cases in Pasig City, Metro
Manila, who had a spat with Belena.
Bur Bernos said Belena
had no known enemy, adding the victim was active in local politics.
Bernos appealed to
authorities to immediately solve the killing, noting it occurred in the wake of
the signing of the supposed peace covenant.
Abra had been the
scene of violent killings mostly related to politics. For a while, killings
stopped during the time of then Cordillera police director Benjamin Magalong
who is now national head of the Criminal Investigation Detection Group.
The new leadership of
Cordillera police under Chief Supt. Ulysses Abellera is now addressing the
killing of Belena which political observers here said could increase if this is
not solved soon.
At Saturday’s signing
of the peace covenant among politicians in Abra, Abellera said he was deeply
saddened by the incident.
Abellera then posed a
challenge to all politicians, especially those running for elective posts in
May, 2016: “I challenge you to place in your heart the peace that we are doing
right now and let’s continue peaceful election for the progressive development of
Abra.” -- With a report from Freddie G. Lazaro
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