Cops to escort Abra teachers as political tension grips province.

BAGUIO CITY -- The Cordillera police are set to escort all Abra teachers tasked with handling poll duties in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on Oct. 30 due to mounting reports of intimidation in a province that was notorious for political violence because of warring private armed groups.

During a meeting of the Cordillera Regional Joint Security Control Center (RJSCC) on Monday, Abra Elections Supervisor Mae Richelle Belmes said some of the teachers who would be counting the votes have reported instances of coercion and 30 of them have resigned from their respective boards of election inspectors (BEIs).

Belmes said that influential Abra families have become 'handlers' who supply candidates with campaign money or guns when needed and are behind the political tensions gripping Abra.

A politician in the province recently ordered teachers to attend a meeting that was organized at the start of this week and warned that those who refused would be forced to resign from their BEIs, Belmes informed the RJSCC. The number of Abra candidates who withdrew from this year's village race has risen from 122 to 254, many of whom complained about the extensive arm twisting, she said.

Belmes said 49 of them were running for 'punong barangay' (village chair), 92 for a seat in 'sangguniang barangay' (village council), 24 for the SK chair, and 90 for the SK council.

None of them formalized their complaints, and some of the SK candidates who withdrew were actually facing disqualification proceedings, she said.

The alleged abductions of incumbent village chairs in Bangued town on Oct. 12 and the Oct. 18 kidnapping of the wife of an alleged candidate who was later released were in the tally of election-related incidents recorded by the Philippine Army, said Col. Ferdinand dela Cruz, commander of the 501st Infantry Brigade based in Cagayan province, during the meeting.

Danger is real

Estrella Carino, Cordillera director of the Department of Education (DepEd), sought and was granted police escorts for all teachers in Abra by Gen. David Peredo Jr., the region's police director, during the RJSCC meeting.

Carino said she was assured by Peredo that police security details would fetch and bring the teachers home during the polls.

As many as 107 teachers have either backed out or have indicated they may pull out of election duties, according to Carino. The danger and anguish faced by Abra teachers are real, she said, citing DepEd employees who 'cried to...