March 29, 2024

In a three-way race among three political families in Abra, members of the Valera and Bernos clan were proclaimed winners in the May 9 presidential election.

The father-daughter tandem of Bangued Mayor Dominic Valera and incumbent Gov. Jocelyn Valera-Bernos were declared as new governor and vice governor, respectively.

Valera won with 74,288 votes over former Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin’s 63,478 votes while Deydey Luna-Ifurong got 6,182 votes in the gubernatorial race.

Bernos, on the other hand, secured a landslide victory with 102,283 votes over Chari Bersamin’s 34,123 votes and another political rival, Roger Luna, with 6,765 votes in the vice gubernatorial race.

Luna-Ifurong is the daughter of Roger Luna while Chari is the daughter of the late Rep. Luis “Chito” Bersamin, who was assassinated in Quezon City in December 2006.   

Uncontested as the province’s representative to the Lower House is La Paz Mayor Ching Bernos, wife of incumbent Rep. JB Bernos, who garnered 122,223 votes. 

Also proclaimed as provincial board members for District 1 are Victorino Baroña, Jr. with 42,955 votes; Henrietta Gayao with 39,464 votes; Rodolfo De La Paz with 38,613 votes; and Amador Diaz with 38,376 votes.

The winning board members for District 2 are Russel Bragas with 65,475 votes; Allan Seares with 52,726 votes; Gina Jenkins with 48,705; and Pat Abaya with 46,523 votes.

In the capital town of  Bangued, proclaimed as mayor is incumbent Vice Mayor Mila Valera with 12,660 votes, defeating Ryan Luna, son of Roger Luna, and Anne Bersamin. Mila is the wife of the governor-elect Valera. 

The grandchild of spouses Dominic and Mila Valera, Joaquin Bernos, who is also the son of Gov. Bernos, has been elected vice mayor with 16,273 votes. The then 18-year-old Joaquin Bernos was one of the youngest councilors in the country when he won as councilor in 2019.

The vice mayor-elect of Bangued is also the son of former La Paz Mayor Ysrael Bernos, who was assassinated in January 2006. He was the youngest mayor in Abra at the time of his death at age 30.

In Pilar, which was placed under the control of the Commission on Elections, incumbent Mayor Maro Somera and his sister, Vice Mayor Jaja Josefina Somera-Disono, were both defeated by challengers Tyron Beroña and Samson Laguesma, respectively.

Beroña got 6,210 votes over Somera’s with 291 votes Laguesma garnered 5,573 votes over Disono’s 708 votes. – Ofelia C. Empian