Barangay chairman bet, ally escape slay try

La Trinidad, Benguet  – An aspiring barangay chairman in a village in the capital town of Bangued, in Abra escaped death on the eve of yesterday’s barangay and SK elections. 

Cordillera police said Fernan Sabalo, a bet for ba­rangay chairman of Cosili East, in Bangued and a certain Desiderio Sabaot were fired upon by still unidentified gunmen while walking with four others to the barangay center. 

Cordillera police spokesman Superintendent Arni Dean Emock said Sabalo and Sabaot were brought to the Abra provincial hospital for treatment of their gunshot wounds while policemen are tracking down the gunmen who fled after the shooting. 

Earlier, all villages in Abra and several villages in Mountain Province were tagged by the Comelec as “areas of concern” because of the long history of electoral-related violence and presence of the New Peoples Army. – Artemio Dumlao