More Abra pols surrender guns

Bangued, Abra  --  Politicians in Abra turned in at least six licensed firearms in the second wave of temporary surrender of legal guns ahead of the 2013 polls.

Lacub town mayor Estelita Bersamina surrendered two licensed AKKAR  12 gauge shotguns;  Pilar town mayor Jaja Disono turned in one licensed caliber .30 M2 carbine rifle;  Tubo town mayor Wilma Gattud an AKKAR 12 gauge shotgun; Danglas town mayor Esther BErnos one unlicensed caliber 45 pistol and Barangay Velasco, Tayum town village chairman Victor Escalante one .22 paltik pistol with one magazine.

Bangued town mayor Ryan Luna meanwhile surrendered one active and four alleged “potential” members of a private armed group under the “Vincent Guzman group”, perhaps the only existing PAG in the province. 

“It is a breakthrough in our efforts to ensure secure elections in Abra and prevent it (the province) from being included in the priority areas that will be declared under the control of the Comelec come 2013,” Cordillera police director Chief Supt. Benjamin Magalong said.

Senior Superintendent Roberto Quinto Soriano, Head of the Regional Special Operations Task Group (RSOTG) and concurrent Officer-in-Charge of the Abra police named the potential PAG members as Michael Omnas Bringas, 36, single, a security guard who is a resident of Barangay Angad, Bangued, Abra; Residio Guzman Ducayag, 41, married and a resident of Barangay Banacao, Bangued, Abra; Josel Bisera Bersamina, 44, a resident of Barangay Dangdangla, Bangued, Abra and Jonnel Balubar Valera, 29, a resident of Barangay Lubong, Bangued, Abra.

The Cordillera police said, “we continue to get positive responses from politicians belonging to different political parties on our efforts to curb violence in the province, thus, we will continue to engage them in order to achieve our goal of a secure and free elections apart from a non-Comelec control of Abra during next year’s elections.”      

Magalong has also ordered all policemen in Abra province “to intensify their engagements with barangay officials, municipal and provincial leaders in order to convince them to give up their licensed and unlicensed firearms for the sake of lasting peace in Abra and to erase its bad image as a violence-stricken area.”

Earlier,  at least 38 licensed firearms were turned over by Abra gov. Eustaquio Bersamin, La Paz mayor Joseph Bernos and other mayors to set a good example among local politicians in the province in a bid to curb violence and  ensure peaceful 2013 elections.

The licensed firearms turned over by political leaders will be returned to them after the May 2013 polls.