Six armed men nabbed in Abra

BANGUED, Abra — In response to Camp Crame’s directive to dismantle the so-called Private Armed Groups (PAGs) in this province, six heavily armed men here were arrested on Sunday, hours after a barangay captain was shot dead in San Isidro town.

Senior Superintendent Danilo Empedrad, Camp Crame’s newly designated provincial police director here, said that the six men caught illegally possessing high powered guns and bullets were identified as Julian Barbero, 39; Arcadio Pacsa, 37; Christopher Babida, 23; Warlito Carsola, 40; Amor Benabese, 40; and Jericho Dador, 25, all farmers from Poblacion, San Isidro town.

In his report, Empedrad said they confiscated from the suspects one M14 rifle, two M16 armalite rifles, a caliber .30 US Carbine, one shotgun, a caliber .45 pistol and hundreds of bullets for different guns.

Last week, the entire Philippine National Police (PNP) force in Abra were sacked by PNP chief Arturo Lomibao and Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes for its failure to solve the series of killings in the province.

Lomibao and Reyes claimed that some of the policemen were in cahoots with politicians fighting political rivals. Lomibao personally handpicked Empedrad, a well-trained veteran police officer to handle the volatile situation in Abra.

Empedrad reported that he dispatched his men, led by Inspector Alex Meimban, in San Isidro town to monitor the presence of armed men following the killing of Barangay Captain Diosdado Claveria in Sitio Maoay, when they chanced upon a group of heavily armed men aboard a jeepney.

The men, who were wearing camouflage uniforms and believed to be goons of political warlords, failed to present papers or permits for their guns, which prompted the police to arrest them right away.

This accomplishment of the newly deployed policemen in Abra was seen as a good start for the PNP leadership in the province. — With Artemio Dumlao