The suspect in the recent killing of a punong barangay in Bangued, Abra last month was arrested in relation to the slay attempt of another PB in 2020.
The suspect, identified as 21-year-old Robert Lazo Millare, a resident of Anana-ao, Budac, in Tayum, Abra, was arrested in the afternoon of May 4.
Police Regional Office-Cordillera Information Officer Cpt. Marnie Abellanida said the suspect is alleged as the one who shot and wounded Walter Teneza Tugadi and his wife while they were going home in March 2020.
The police filed a frustrated murder against him due to the incident.
Abellanida said the arresting police officers also seized a pistol from the suspect, who will face another case in relation to the election gun ban.
He said Millare is the primary suspect in the fatal shooting of Ronnie Bringas on April 27 in Angad, Bangued.
Bringas was watching a basketball game when he was shot by an unidentified male person. The suspect left in a motorcycle but it crashed on the side of the road. He then left the motorcycle behind and ran on foot.
The police report said bystanders tried to grab the suspect but he drew his gun at them, allowing him to escape.
Abellanida said Abra police also served the warrant of Millare while in jail, in relation to the killing of Bringas.
Bringas was the third person killed in the province since the start of the election campaign in January.
On March 29, Sandee Bermudo, the security aide of Pilar Vice Mayor Jaja Disono was killed in an alleged shootout with the police.
What followed was a still unsolved killing of kagawad Marlon Tabaday Tanurio of Bolbolo, Pilar on April 2. Tanurio was shot in his sleep at his house.
The latest shooting incident in Abra happened on April 29, where the victims, Fermin Balmaceda Pilor Jr., 65, a kagawad in Dolores town, and his friend, Rumualdo Amano, were eating outside the former’s house when an unidentified gunman suddenly came in and shot them. Balmaceda and his friend died on the spot. Pilor’s wife and son, who were inside the house, survived the attack.
The Commission on Elections placed Pilar under its control due to the recent violence that erupted in the municipality.
The Police Regional Office-Cordillera has relieved all personnel of the Pilar Municipal Police Station and replaced them with members of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 15 and Special Action Force. – Ofelia C. Empian
