Abra lawmen told: Stay away from politicos

BAGUIO CITY — Stay clear of politicians or face sanctions.

Chief Superintendent Raul Gonzales, police director of the Cordillera Administrative Region, issued this stern warning to policemen in Abra, which has been a hotbed of political killings.

He said lawmen found siding with rival politicians in the violence—stricken province will be assigned elsewhere in the country.

Gonzales, a member of a special police task force investigating the Dec. 16 slaying of Abra Rep. Luis Bersamin Jr. outside a church in New Manila, Quezon City, said they are now in the process of identifying policemen "connected" with local politicians.

The move is aimed at keeping Abra policemen out of politics, which has contributed to unsolved killings in the province, touted as Northern Luzon’s "killing fields."

In 2005, all 264 policemen stationed in Abra were relieved and brought to the regional police headquarters at Camp Dangwa, and later reassigned elsewhere in the Cordilleras upon the recommendation of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

After a year, however, a number of them had been re-deployed to the province.

Gonzales said three police officers have been relieved from their posts in Bangued, Abra’s capital town, after they were found to be "associated" with rival politicians.

Policemen, who are relatives of politicians and those openly voicing out their opinions on the intense political rivalries in Abra, are the targets of this cleansing process, said Gonzales.

Gonzales said Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Calderon has directed them to provide security to Abra politicians only on a case-to-case basis.

"We will be selective," he said, adding that they will determine if a politician really needs police protection and select who the security escorts will be.

Gonzales, however, said Abra is neither under the control of the police nor the Commission on Elections, although a firearms ban is strictly enforced in the province.