30 WELL-TRAINED POLICE DEPLOYED TO SECURE ABRA

CAMP DANGWA -- Around 30 heavily-armed policemen were deployed in Abra
following a series of killings and reports that drug pushers seek
refuge in the province.

The deployment of the police troops were ordered by Chief Supt. Victor
Luga, director of the Police Regional Office in the Cordilleras
(PRO-CAR), to prevent further escalation of violence in the province.

Majority of the heavily armed policemen will be detailed in Bangued,
the capital town in the province, and will only be pulled out if and
when peace and order is restored, PRO-CAR added.

At least two high-profile murder cases occurred in the province the
past two months.

These included the killing of the three cadres of the Cordillera
Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA) and the recent shooting to death of
Barangay Captain Nestor "Angin" Belisario, who was reportedly one of
the trusted men of Gov. Vicente Valera, a known political kingpin of
Abra.

In Bangued, Mayor Maria Zeta Valera, wife of the governor, said over
Baguio-based radio station Radyo ng Bayan, described the recent
killings as "alarming".

Valera also claimed that the killings were well planned, adding that
"influential people" are involved.

The mayor assured that Abra police have doubled their efforts in going
after the perpetrators, saying that justice will be served.

Reacting to reports that Abra is fast becoming a haven for drug
pushers, Valera said her office, in close coordination with the law
enforcers, have intensified their anti-illegal drugs advocacy program.

PRO-CAR earlier noted that shabu peddling proliferates in
Bangued.

It also said that Abra tops the list of drug-affected barangays with
37 followed by Baguio with 25, adding that 111 of the 233 drug
personalities in its watch list seek refuge in the province.

A police officer earlier said Abra's proximity to the Ilocos Region is
one of the factors why there are even more drug pushers in the
province than in the city, the education center north of Manila.

Despite such concern, the Abra provincial police have yet to conduct
anti-drugs-related dialogues or seminars from June 16 to August 22
this year, together with that of Apayao and Mt. Province, records added.

Still, the Abra Provincial Police Office reported that four of the
province's barangays have already been cleared from the list of
drug-infested barangays in the region. HFP