Abra police chief sacked a month after Bersamin slay

The Philippine National Police has sacked the police chief of Abra, under whose watch the political killings in the province have drawn greater national attention and public outrage.

The sacking came barely a month after the daring gunslaying of Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin Jr. and his security aide outside the Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City on Dec. 16.

Police investigators believe Gov. Vicente Valera masterminded the killings but admitted they have yet to gather more evidence to pin him down.

Chief Superintendent Raul Gonzales, police director of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), confirmed in a text message yesterday the dismissal of Senior Superintendent Rogelio Damaso and the appointment of Senior Superintendent Alexander Pumecha as his replacement.

Damaso was reportedly the personal choice of Valera for the top police post in Abra. He was named Abra police chief only last Oct. 30.

Valera said there was something sinister about the sudden dismissal of Damaso.

"Damaso was investigating the proliferation of private armed groups in Abra and three people who had been arrested in connection with the investigation were ordered freed by a ranking police official. He (Damaso) might have been pressured,’’ Valera said. He did not name the police official.

Col. Eugene Martin, Task Force Bersamin commander, was designated by Camp Crame to head the task force that would go after private armed groups and keep peace and order in the province.

The PNP leadership earlier revoked all permits to carry firearms in Abra, which has gained notoriety for political violence, especially during elections. In Bangued alone, three town mayors and a provincial board member have been killed in recent months.

Valera, in an interview in his Quezon City residence, denied involvement in the killings, saying some top police officials made him undergo "trial by publicity.’’

He appealed to PNP chief Oscar Calderon to caution top officials of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) from disclosing to the media "unfounded, premature, and baseless’’ findings in the Bersamin murder probe so as not to mislead the public.

"The investigation which I welcome is still ongoing and this top CIDG official kept on issuing premature statements and unfounded findings linking me to the crime that I never did,’’ Valera said.

The Abra governor was referring to Superintendent Benjamin delos Santos of the CIDG who has reportedly been issuing statements linking Valera to the assassination.

"I am appealing to General Calderon to caution his men, particularly Delos Santos, and refrain them from issuing baseless and unfounded accusations against me since this will only confuse the public who are waiting for the truth behind the ambush of Congressman Bersamin," he added.  

Valera said his driver, Roberto Sayao, was even mistaken by Delos Santos for Freddie Dupo, who was one of the suspects in the Bersamin murder. Valera said Dupo was a deadringer for Sayao and it was the latter who was with him when he bought a van at Juno Cars in Mandaluyong City on Nov. 28.

Valera accused his political opponents of funding a "hate campaign’’ against him to destroy his family’s political career.

"It is they (Valera’s political foes) who will benefit from the death of Bersamin because they can now enter politics easily without any more obstruction to their political gameplan," he said.

At Malacañang, President Arroyo has stepped up the pressure on the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the PNP to solve and end the political killings in the country.

"The President expressed serious concern about the killings. She wants the agencies to stop and solve these. We all know that the government is being criticized for supposed lack of respect for human rights and also these killings,’’ Cerge Remonde, Presidential Management Staff chief, said over dzRB. — With Aurea Calica