Abra mayor slain in church

A solemn marriage ceremony at a Catholic church in Calauan, Laguna ended in a bloodbath yesterday morning after a lone gunman pumped a bullet into the head of one of the principal sponsors, Mayor Clarence Benwaren of Tineg town in Abra.

Responding policemen later caught up with the fleeing assassin and his companions, resulting in a shootout that left one of the suspects dead and the driver of the getaway vehicle captured.

Soledad Benwaren, wife of the 37-year-old mayor, said the killer casually sneaked up from behind her husband as he was signing the marriage contract and shot him with a caliber .45 automatic in the right temple.

Mrs. Benwaren is a hearing officer of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) in Baguio City.

After the shooting, the gunman rushed out to rejoin his accomplices who were waiting outside the church. The group boarded a KIA Vesta van with license plates XER-831 parked in front of the Calauan Elementary School some 100 meters away from the church.

Benwaren was pronounced dead on arrival at the San Pablo Community Hospital in San Pablo City.

Police identified the slain suspect as Edberto Amoncio, 26, of Samar Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City, believed to be the man who pulled the trigger on Benwaren.

Arrested was Cernan Manalang of Barangay Paciano Rizal in Bay, Laguna, driver of the getaway van.

While the police were initially eyeing the New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas as suspects in the murder, they were also not ruling out political rivalry as a motive.

Sources said Benwaren has been a marked man for the NPA for alleged warlordism and maintaining his own private army.

The mayor reportedly survived an ambush in Tineg two days before the barangay elections last July 15.

Benwaren, his brother Levin and about 10 Tineg officials were on their way to the town hall when they were allegedly waylaid.

The mayor blamed his political opponent, Vice Mayor Edwin Crisologo, for the attack, although some witnesses claimed it was Benwaren and his group who first assaulted local residents identified with Crisologo.

NPA rebels also attacked Benwaren’s private camp in Sitio Vera, Barangay Alaca-Tapayen in Tineg last Sept. 12 and burned down two houses and three shacks being used by his bodyguards, some of them soldiers.

The NPA’s Agustin Begnalen Command owned up to the attack, claiming it was part of the "revolutionary movement’s efforts to punish the Benwaren warlord family."

The NPA rebels have allegedly accused the Benwaren couple and Levin of masterminding politically motivated killings in Tineg and other parts of Abra.

However, the slain official had denied the allegations, saying he was merely a "lowly public servant."

Calauan police director Superintendent Henry Azuten said the shooting took place while Benwaren and other guests were having their pictures taken following the marital rites .

"While they were taking pictures inside the church, (the gunman) approached the mayor from the back and shot the mayor in the head," Azuten said.

He added that people inside the church scampered for safety as the assassin fled.

Azuten also said his men cornered Amoncio and Manalang as the suspects were running toward their getaway vehicle where their six accomplices were waiting.

"They were running while holding guns, and we were on hot pursuit. We cornered the two men and they traded shots with us," Azuten said.

Initial reports said police caught up with fleeing suspects on a road leading to Marfori subdivision in Barangay Masiit where the brief shootout occurred.

Azuten said six other suspects escaped, but did not elaborate on how they got away.

Laguna Vice Gov. Danilo Fernandez theorized that Benwaren’s murder was apparently well-planned as the assailants knew that their target would be in Calauan. "The men knew he (Benwaren) was going to be there. They planned the ambush apparently in great detail," he said.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina surmised that politics was behind the slaying and expressed confidence that the remaining suspects will be arrested shortly.

Citing field reports, Lina described the political situation in Tineg as "very precarious."

Napolcom-CAR Director Edmundo Fernandez said leftist groups have also accused Benwaren of involvement in illegal drugs and illegal gambling.

Benwaren, son of former Tineg Mayor Pedro Benwaren, was the second local chief executive of the province to be assassinated in less than a year.

Tubo Mayor Jose Segundo was also shot dead last Dec. 27 while on his way home on horseback after attending a wedding in one of the barangays in his town. — With reports from Arnell Ozaeta, Artemio Dumlao, Myds Supnad, Ave Bello, Marvin Sy