Police filed criminal charges against the incumbent mayor and vice mayor of Pilar town in Abra in connection with the shootout in a checkpoint and subsequent standoff between the police and the bodyguards of a local executive on March 30.
Charged were Pilar Mayor Maro Somera, Vice Mayor Jaja Josefina Disono, two local government unit employees and a househelp of the vice mayor.
On the other hand, a case of Serious Disobedience to an Agent of a Person in Authority was filed against: Robert Boreta Toreno, 27, an LGU employee; Emmanuel Nicanor Valera, 26, LGU personnel; and Jericho Toreno Bufil, 29.
Bufil was also charged with an Attempted Murder case.
The cases stemmed from an incident on March 30 when a van disregarded a checkpoint, rammed two policemen on duty and firing at the the local cops.
The cops then chased the vehicle until they spotted it entering a compound of Disono. It was at this compound where the cops also discovered that one of the men on board the van was killed.
“The cases filed are the product of the evidence and testimonies that our police investigators were able to gather. Those involved individuals will be made to submit themselves to the judicial proceeding,” sad PNP Chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos.