Daily TribuneThe alleged kidnap victim is the wife of Benjamin Loy, a candidate for captain of Barangay Abang in Bucay town, Abra. Days before the alleged abduction, their house in the said barangay was ransacked by unknown assailants
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BAGUIO CITY — Hours before the shooting of a barangay kagawad candidate took place in Bucay town, Abra province, the wife of a candidate for village chief in the same town was confirmed abducted by unknown suspects in Parañaque City.
Reports from the Parañaque City Police Station disclosed that the victim — identified as Bliss Progreso Loy, a teacher of Col. E de Leon Elementary School in Barangay Moonwalk, Parañaque City — was abducted in the morning of 18 October 2023.
Initial investigations revealed that the teacher, together with her siblings, were on board a motorcycle at Matthew Street, Barangay Moonwalk, Parañaque City when two male persons on board a motorcycle blocked their way.
The suspects grabbed the teacher and forced her inside a black van with plate number ABR-5730.
The alleged kidnap victim is the wife of Benjamin Loy, a candidate for captain of Barangay Abang in Bucay town, Abra. Days before the alleged abduction, their house in the said barangay was ransacked by unknown assailants.
The police are reviewing the CCTV footages to identify the suspects and the direction where the black van headed.
At past 7 a.m. on 18 October, a candidate for barangay kagawad was shot two times by unidentified gunmen at Sitio Nagpasinan, Barangay Bangbangcag, Bucay, Abra. The victim was identified as Catalino Turalba Sr., a resident of Barangay Bangbangcag.
Police reported that Turalba was on board his motorcycle with his son and was said to be heading to Barangay Palaquio of the same town. On their way, a riding on tandem followed him and one of the suspects shot him two times with a pistol of unidentified caliber.
The victim was rushed to the St. Therese Hospital in Talogtog, Dolores, Abra by personnel of the 1504th Regional Mobile Force Battalion. He was later transferred to the Abra Provincial Hospital in Bangued where he expired.
On 9 October 2023, an encounter ensued between the Bucay police and armed men where one of the suspects died.
Series of events which led to the latest incident involving Turalba have brought "fear" among the people in the province and a sense of "helplessness" as reports of armed men continue to roam around.
Abra officials appealed for the deployment of more government troops in the province especially in Bucay because of the
election-related violence happening in the area. While the sight of uniformed personnel helps, a number of Abrenios clamor for further intervention of various groups and stakeholders to call out presence of violence in the province.
