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Monday, December 18, 2006
Arroyo vows to go after Abra lawmaker's killers
By Rimaliza Opiña
BAGUIO CITY -- Expect stricter inspections of vehicles entering the North, with the traffic police watching out for the alleged triggermen of Abra Representative Luis Bersamin Jr. and his policeman-bodyguard, identified as Adelfo Ortega.
Operatives of the Cordillera Regional Traffic Management Group (RTMG) were furnished copies of the cartographic sketches of the gunmen responsible for the killing on Saturday of Bersamin and Ortega.
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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Manila pledged Sunday that police would capture the killers of Bersamin, and said she was appalled over such a brazen act of lawlessness.
The President said the lawmaker was "a sincere friend and ally for good governance and public service."
Cordillera police office information officer Joseph Adnol said they believed that the triggermen are from Northern Luzon and traffic group agents already have instructions to monitor from their checkpoints motorists entering and leaving Abra.
The sketches provided by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of Bersamin's gunmen portrayed one as between 38 to 40 years old, brown complexioned, about 5'5" in height, and medium built. The other triggerman is about 40 to 45 years old, stands about 5'4", dark complexioned, slim, with moustache, and he reportedly speaks Tagalog.
In Quezon City, police investigators already recovered near the Mt. Carmel Church in New Manila the motorcycle used as getaway vehicle by the triggermen.
Police Chief Oscar Calderon has formed Task Force Bersamin to look into the motives behind the killing of the lawmaker.
Bersamin, 62, was shot dead after attending the wedding of his niece Pia, daughter of Court of Appeals (CA) Justice Lucas Bersamin. He was about to board his Ford E-150 van (ZAH-275) when the killer shot him and Ortega at close range using a caliber .45 pistol.
Bersamin's driver, who also acted as a bodyguard, was wounded when he traded shots with the gunman, who escaped on a motorcycle driven by another man. A child was hit by a stray bullet and taken to a hospital, police said.
The congressman's political career began in 1987 when he became the mayor of Bangued, Abra's capital town. He served as mayor for 10 years then ran for vice governor and won. He occupied the post from 1998 to 2001. He won as congressman of the lone representative of Abra in the 2001 elections.
At the House of Representatives, he is the vice chairman of House committees on dangerous drugs, national defense and security, and trade and industry. He was also a member of House committees on agriculture, food and fisheries, foreign affairs, national cultural communities, and public works and highways.
One of the most notable pieces of legislation he proposed was House Resolution 00246 or the resolution directing the committee on public order and security to conduct an inquiry into the proliferation and maintenance of private armed groups by several politicians in Abra and to solve killings perpetrated by armed groups.
The resolution, which was filed in September 2004, was referred to the House committee on public safety, which adopted the measure without amendments on second reading. Further action on the measure is still pending before the committee. (Sun.Star Baguio)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (December 18, 2006 issue)
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Sketch of assassin in foiled slay plot released