Abra poll violence claims 2 more lives

BAGUIO CITY — Two men were killed right in Abra’s capital town of Bangued last Monday in the latest rash of election-related killings in the province.

Killed on Monday morning was Oscar Formoso, 42, who was shot with a caliber .45 pistol in the head in front of the St. James Hospital in Barangay Cabuluan, Bangued town.

Reports said Formoso, a campaigner of Bangued opposition mayoralty bet Dominic Valera, was gunned down because he reportedly could not account for P50,000 in campaign funds.

Several hours later, Ricardo Bersaluna, 65, was gunned down in Barangay Barikir, also in Bangued.

Bersaluna, a political leader of re-electionist Bangued Mayor Ma. Cita Claustro Valera (not related to Dominic Valera), was also shot with a caliber .45 pistol in the head.

Mayor Valera said Bersaluna used to be a supporter of Dominic Valera.

Earlier, Abra Gov. Vicente Valera said Bersaluna’s house was strafed by still unidentified gunmen.

The governor has called the attention of government authorities to the presence of armed goons being maintained by certain Abra mayors.

These goons, he said, might decide the outcome of the presidential race in Abra now that President Arroyo and actor Fernando Poe Jr. are in a neck-and-neck fight in the run-up to the May 10 elections.

Abra has at least 140,000 registered voters and Gov. Valera expressed apprehension that only half of them will go out to vote on May 10, particularly in the towns of Lagayan, La Paz and Bangued.