The Abra police, led by Supt. Alexander Pumecha, is still investigating the matter but those hurt in the blast are now recuperating. According to one of the victims, whatever caused the explosion may have been presented (disguised?) as a gift to the Luna family.
Read our earlier posts here and here.
VIDEO CREDIT: GMANews.tv
Above photo shows Abra Representative Cecy Luna who survived an explosion which rocked her home, December 25. Police authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosion. The theories so far: The blast is either politically motivated or it could have been an accident. The accident angle is mainly due to the fact that the Lunas’ stored firecrackers in their garage where the explosion occurred.
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Here’s the latest updates on the killing of Mayor Cesar Rafael of Paracelis, Mt. Province. Read our first post here.
This could very well be the first politically-motivated killing in Mt. Province. It is, of course, shocking that it happened but that it happened in Paracelis is not that shocking. The town has a reputation as the province’s “wild east”; it’s kind of like Abra in terms of its brand of politics and in the possibility that violence, which brews unseen, could burst out to the surface.
Still, there is no excuse for murders like this. Our condolences to the mayor’s family and we hope that his killers are brought to justice.
Here’s an Inquirer story by Frank Cimatu and Desiree Caluza:
The killers of Mayor Cesar Rafael of Paracelis, Mt. Province, fired at least 60 bullets into his car that shattered parts of his body.
Residents who saw Rafael’s body at the Paracelis District Hospital in Barangay Poblacion in the town described what was done to the mayor as a “desecration.”
“His eyes and ears were blown off. His arm was almost torn off,” a Paracelis resident said through a text message. “This could only be done by an outsider. Anyone who truly knows the mayor would not have done this,” the resident said.
Rafael was driving his Toyota Hilux and had just left his farm in Barangay Palitod in Paracelis when he was attacked between 12 and 1 p.m. on Tuesday, police said.
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Apparently, it’s because of some misunderstanding. From Deped CAR:
According to a legend, Apayao is derived from the combination from the Ilocano word “Apay” meaning “Why” and Tagalog word “Ayaw” meaning “Don’t like”, the legend tells of an Ilocano and Tagalog who accidentally met in one forest of the province. The Ilocano ask, “Apay adaka ditoy?” to which the Tagalog answered,”Ayaw” thinking that Ilocano is offering food. Not understanding each other, they fought. Men from a nearby village the two men fighting and hearing the word “Apay” and “Ayaw”. The place was then referred as Apay-ayaw by the villagers thus came the name Apayao.
Photo credit: Travel-Philippines.com
Kind of nice, no? Video courtesy of angelgab. You can see the mannequin costume demo for the different Cordillera provinces here.
“No President has shown so much concern for the province [than Ms Arroyo].” – Mt. Province Governor Maximo Dalog
Read the Inquirer story here. Even though I really dislike Gloria Arroyo (here and here), I must admit that Governor Dalog is correct on this one. To her credit, Gloria must have visited Mt. Province more times than all the Presidents combined. For a province which has been ignored by past national administrations, such visits are a great deal. And one cannot make that many visits without getting a glimpse of and expressing concern for the problems confronted by the province and its people.
So she’s not all bad. But let’s not also forget that she cheated her way to the presidency, that her administration is corrupt, and that her human rights record is beyond terrible.
