TODAY SOME Abra mayors swiftly deny having a private army. Yet the truth is that having one is necessary not only to win an election in Abra, but also for sheer survival. Nobody enters politics there and assumes that he or she will still have the pleasure of a sound sleep at night. One friend who says he is thinking of running for public office in Abra also says he does not expect to live past 40.

	FROM A LINEAGE OF WARLORDS. Abra Governor Vicente Valera is descended from the Paredes clan, whose political rivalry with the Barbero family, is said to have given birth to Abra’s private armies. [photo courtesy of Malaya]

The last I heard, the Philippine National Police (PNP) was monitoring seven private armies, although the warring political groups in the province could be narrowed down to two. The PNP did not name names. I suspect not only that the silence of police officers has been bought, but also that they are afraid to be transferred or be placed in "floating status" because the warlords' networks reach well within their organization.

Like the mayors, the incumbent governor has also been quick to deny he has a private army. Ask any member of the opposition like Mayor Cecilia Luna or Mayor Joseph Bernos, however, and they would just as quickly say that Governor Valera even has the New People's Army (NPA) on his payroll. At the very least, two former NPA members, Lacub Mayor Cesar Baroña and Malibcong Mayor Mario Baawa are allied with the governor. Cordillera People's Liberation Army leader and Bucloc Mayor Mailed Molina, meanwhile, is supposed to be with the opposition.

Valera has often insinuated that the violence in Abra stems from the opposition group. He has repeatedly said that he comes from a non-violent family. In fact, he is known to have the most religious family among Abra’s politicos. A former seminarian, he surrounds himself with other ex-seminarians like his provincial administrator Diosdado Cariño, General Services Officer Boy Tubise, and provincial agriculturist Chris Adriatico.

For all I know, Valera may be in constant prayer and prone to walking on his knees from the church door to the altar. But the way I see it, the governor as the father of the province should be able to keep peace and order. He can blame no one but himself for what Abra has become. For the last 20 years, Valera has been in power, either as governor or congressman of the province. Yet he does not seem to be doing anything about the violence in Abra. Private armies are not endemic to my province. It is just that there, they are out of control.

Last January 11, PNP Cordillera released a statement saying, "Violence is a part of the everyday life of the Abrenians." The statistics also say so: The police regional office recorded 47 murders, 28 frustrated murders, two attempted murders, 22 frustrated homicides, six attempted homicides, and 11 homicide cases in 2006. It said that of the 116 cases involving violence, some 70 were being followed up, of which about 45 had "slim chances” of being resolved because suspects “cannot be identified."

"Most of the killings also lack witnesses who are afraid to come out,” said the PNP. “They feel their lives will be threatened once they involve themselves in it."

Felled Abra Politicos, 2001-2006 *Both village chiefs were killed during the Arya Abra Festival parade **To take oath as Barangay Captain; former Kagawad
NAME	POSITION	PLACE	YEAR OF DEATH
Arnulfo Bañez	Barangay Captain (ABC President)	Pilar	2001
Leonardo Parado Sr.	Councilor	Lagayan	2001
Rogelio Seguerra	Kagawad	Pang-ot, Lagayan	2001
Jose Segundo Sr.	Mayor	Tubo	2001
Charito Tolentino	Barangay Captain (ABC President)	Langiden	2001
Reynaldo Bataller and Resituto Benosa*	Barangay Captains	Peñarrubia	2002
Nestor Batino	Kagawad	Buli, La Paz	2002
Clarence Benwaren	Mayor	Tineg	2002
Gregorio Beroña	Kagawad	Lumabang, San Juan	2002
Zaldimar Blue	Barangay Captain	Langiden	2002
Bernardo Damasen	Kagawad	Barit, Luba	2002
Justino Ballestra	Kagawad	Patoc, Bucay	2003
Irineo Belisario**	Barangay Captain	Cayapa, Lagangilang	2003
Nestor "Angin" Belisario Jr.	Barangay Captain	Bangued	2003
Ruben Afos	Barangay Captain (ABC President)	La Paz	2004
Roger Babida	Kagawad	South Poblacion, Bucay	2004
Jerry Belarmino	Kagawad	Macarcarmay, Bangued	2004
Pricilo Billedo	Kagawad	Dumayco, Peñarrubia	2004
Amor Bringas	Former Barangay Captain	Bangued	2004
Ceferino Callibag	Candidate for Councilor	Danglas	2004
Felipe Taeza	Kagawad	Bangbangar, Bucay	2004
Rashid Timbreza	Kagawad	Salucag, Dolores	2004
Nestor Adame	Kagawad	Calaba, Bangued	2005
Restituto Ballestra	Barangay Captain	Bucay	2005
Diosdado Claveria	Barangay Captain	San Isidro	2005
Norman Patricio	Kagawad	Tattawa, Peñarrubia	2006
Marc Ysrael Bernos	Mayor	La Paz	2006
Malvin dela Peña	Councilor	Villaviciosa	2006
James Bersamin	Provincial Board Member (Number 1 in 2004)	Abra	2006
Luis Bersamin Jr.	Representative	Lone district, Abra	2006

It then described perpetrators as "common law citizens," saying further that they were local residents owning unlicensed firearms who "impulsively" use them on drinking sessions.

In 2005, Police Chief Supt. Jesus Versoza had also made a special report on Abra, in which he said the PNP and the army were under the governor’s control, and that the governor paid off everyone and requested the transfer of those who "disobeyed" him. The report, which was later posted at www.abrenian.com, blamed Bangued’s transformation into Abra’s "killing fields" on the fact that mayors had satellite offices there and were absentee chief executives in their respective towns. 

Unfortunately, then Interior and Local Governments Secretary Angelo Reyes overreacted and sacked the entire Abra police. Personally, I don’t think changing the entire Abra police will solve the province’s peace and order problem. But most times I feel like annihilating the politicians in power would.

A YOUNG Abra warlord once told me he did not expect to grow old because politics is in itself a death sentence. For sure, most of those who go into politics do so with the intention of playing it clean and fair. But they end up forming their own private armies anyway because in Abra one cannot be in politics and not have a platoon of goons.

Before the Special Action Forces were deployed to Abra by former police chief General Edgardo Aglipay on September 24, 2004, heavily armed goons were everywhere in the province. Even ordinary folk liked carrying guns just to show that they had them.

Growing up, I had often seen neighbors going around with firearms tucked in their waistbands. Like the rest of my playmates, I never wondered or asked why these men had to carry guns all the time. Whether they were attending birthday parties, singing in videoke or karaoke joints, or riding their motorcycles, their guns were always visible, ready to be used. As a consequence, not a single night spot in Abra — Calaba Fiesta, Benedisco, Dang's, Lucky's, among others — is untainted by blood spill.

Actually, I had been so accustomed to seeing ordinary citizens with firearms that I did not realize carrying an unlicensed gun in public is against the law, until a visiting friend pointed it out. I guess when you live in the midst of murder and mayhem, you become either too paranoid or too numb.

I have met a few paranoid Abrenians but most of my provincemates are numb. Sometimes I silently curse parents who wail in lamentation over their dead sons, but later accept a sack of rice and a squealing pig from their children’s killers. Then after a couple of weeks, I would hear of another son joining a private army.

For the goons themselves, hitting targets is a job, and every head a virtual medal they wear everywhere they go. But the job of hired killer, just like any profession, entails apprenticeship and training. Goons, though they evoke fear when they reach their “full rank,” start out as sweepers and gardeners in Abra. Then comes being entrusted with the breeding of their master’s fighting cocks and then cleaning firearms. Only after that do they start learning to hold and fire guns.