counter affidavit of vicente valera (may 6, 2006)

8/6/2019 Counter Affidavit of Vicente Valera (May 6, 2006)

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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES)QUEZON CITY ) S.S.

eouNTER-AFFIDAVIT(1.5. No. 08-17"52, Bersamln, et at. vs. Valera, et al.)

I, VICENTEISIDf(O P. VALERA , 63 years old, married, and aresident of 26 Guerrero St., Xavierville I Subdivision, Quezon City, beingunder oath, depose and say that '

1. I deny that I am behind the killing of former Congressman LuisBersarnln, Jr. (or Chito). I have no reason to have him killed since in hislifetirne we were both clo se: to each other, personally and politically,2. The mother of Chito, the late Rosario Purrugganan Bersarnin,and my mother, Violeta Paredes Valera, were close relatives who were

scions of the Paredes cian of Abra. Chito's father, Or. Luis Bersamin, Sr.(affectionately called Doe Luis by Abrenos) and my father, Jose (Pepito)Valera, were so close to each other (barkadas) that when they got married,they set their marriage dates almost at the same time. The closeness ofthese two families were such that their ancestral houses in Abra werebeside each other and were connected to each other by a wooden bridgethrough which members of either family could easily cross any time, evenat night, to be with the members of the other. The two families were asone.

In the elections in the mid 19605, Pepito and Doc Luis ran under thesame ticket for Governor arid Vice-Governor, respectively, of Abra.Unfortunately, both lost. Doe Luis was my ninong when I wasbapitized. My mother was the ninang of Chito when he got married. Mywife, Ma. Zita Claustra Valera (or Ching) was the consistent ninang of thethree daughters of Chito, namely Charito, Maryanne and Michelle, whenthey got married.

The closeness of our parents extended to us, their children. Chitoand I, being almost of the same age, with Chito a little more than a yearolder than me, grew up together almost like brothers in the same aforesaidhouses and studied in the same school in Abra. In our college days, mybrother Raman and I, along with our other contemporaries from Abra,would often spend our free times at the apartment at Scout YbardozaStreet, Quezon City where Chito and his brothers Eustaqiuo (or Takit, whois presently the Governor of Abra) and Lucas (or Luke, now a Justice oftile Court of Appeals) were staying. Luke and I entered the seminary in ourhigh school years. Both Chito and I worked as clerks at the law office ofthe late Don Quintin Paredes while we were pursuing our college studies.

3. I first entered politics in '1986 when I was appointed' OIC-.Governor of Abra. In 1986, after I had been appolnted OIC-Governor ofAbra, I worked for the appointment of Chito as the Ole-Mayor of Bangued,the capital town of Abra. I call thus claim in all' modesty that I sponsored

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Chito's entry to politics.In the 1988 elections, Chito and I ran and won under the same ticketfor Mayor of Bangued and Governor of Abra, respectively. \fJe were re-elected for three consecutive terms under the same political alliance.In 1999, upon the expirations of our respective three-term limitationsas Governor of Abra and Mayor of Bangued, I ran for Congressman ofAbra, while Chito ran for Vice Governor of Abra. My wife Ching ran forGovernor of Abra. 'Ne all won under the same political ticket.In the 2001 elections, I was again elected Governor, Chito waselected Congressman, while Ching was elected Mayor of 8angued.Sometime prior to the May 2004 elections, some sectors, including

our own political supporters, were advocating for a change in thecongressional representation in Abra. Specifically, they wanted my wifeCt1ing to run for Congress. Chito and I and our supporters lengthilydiscussed our political futures and strategies in our desire to preserve ourpolitical and personal.unions. This resulted in the execution on January 3-1,2004 of a Covenant of Unity (a copy of which is hereto attached as AnnexA ), which was signed or followed and conformed to by Ching, Chito andme and our political supporters, including incumbent mayors of the varioustowns of Abra. Under this covenant, Ching, Chito and I would ran for re-elections for our respective positions, and that after the 2004 elections, LH .the 2007 elections, Ching would run for Congress while Chito would run forMayor of Bangued, Abra. iwas to run for re-election as Governor.

In tne last 2007 elections, with the death of Chito. there wereinevitable changes in our political set up. I fan for Congress against CeciliaL.una who was now allied with Eustaquio (T akits ) Bersarnin who ran forGovernor against my wife Ching. M y wife, Ching lost, while ! am stillawaiting the resolution of the ejection case , filed and is now pendingbefore the Supreme Court,

4. Considering the foregoing personal and political circumstances, Ihad no personal or political reason to cause or even just wish for the deathof Chito. Chito and ! never had any serious personal or politicaldifferences. We had campaigned together and for each other in all theelections since 1988 up to the 2004 elections. My wife Ching's and my. political futures were well secured even beyond, or so we had hoped) the2004 elections, and made more secure by the support of Chito and hisfollowers. There was, therefore, no reason why I would want Chito outsince his loss would also be both a persona! and a political loss to us.

5. M y wife and i were ourselves present at, as we were invited to,th e ' wedding of Luke's daughter at the Mount Carmel Church oh theafternoon of December 16, 2006. At the church and prior to theceremonies, Chinq and I exchanged greetings, jokes and otherpleasantries with Chito and the other guests. Chito even introduced us tothe wedding sponsors. Ourino the mass, Ching and I occupied a pew,beside Or. Pat Abaya, C l first cousin of Chito, among others. After the

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mass, and while the usual picture takings were going on, Ching and Ltogether with the other guests, ieft ahead for thehotei where the receptionwould be held. It was when we were already at the hotel that we wereinformed that Chito and his bodyguard had been shot to death.

6. I categorically deny the imputations linking me behind the deathof Chito. I never met with Freddie Dupa or with anybody else to plot thedeath of Chito. It is also not true, as otnerwise stated in the affidavit ofFreddie Dupo, that after the death of Chito. ! talked \N itr l him over the cellphone after he had talked with Leo Bello and that I provided him financialassistance. I do know Dupo since he was once the Vice Mayor of La Paz,Abra. Sometime in 2004., Dupo was ambushed. f\t his request, I helpedhim with his hospital expenses. He .suspected the Bernoses, who wereonce his political allies, to be behind the attempt on his life. I advised himto file charges against those responsible, but he told me that it would bebetter for him just to leave Abra since his enemies would not stop until heis eliminated. After the shooting of Chito, Dupo was heard over the BomboRadyo station in Vigan City denying any participation in the death of Chito.

7. \Nhile I, personally. would have no reason to cast aspersions onChito, nonetheless, ! can only speculate as to some reasons which couldbe behind his death. Sornetirnein December 22, 2006, the AgustinBegnalen Command, which reportedly commands the New People's Armyin Abra, came out with a press statement (a copy of which is heretoattached as Annex B) assailing the personal and political conduct ofChito. A copy of this press statement was personally delivered to the Officeof the Governor at the capitol of Abra and one of my staff gave me a copy ..This press statement specifically referred to the brutal siaying onNovember 29, 2005 of Albsrt Terredano. So far as I can recall and on thebasis of information relayed to me, sometime in 2005, Chilo, who was thenthe incumbent Congressman, had a dialogue with a farmers' group inAbra. In that meeting, a certain Albert Terredano asked Chito regarding theuse of his congressional funds for agricultural projects in Abra. A heateddiscussion between Chito and Terredano reportedly ensued which seemedto place Chito In a bad light. Several months later, Terrecano, who wasreportedly a ranking member of the Bayan Muna in Abra, was shot to.death while on his way to the office.

8. The deaths of Chito and Terredano and, apparently also tbeambush on Freddie Dupo, may not be isolated from the local culture ofviolence that Abra has been notorious for. Since time immemorial, killingsin Abra have occurred for a variety of reasons: personal, political, official,.aqranan, etc., and lately, the involvement of the New People's Army andits allied organizations. In this regard, it may be appropriate to mentionhere the reported killing of four people purportedly by the New People'sArmy in connivance with local politicians, as reported in page A-23 of theApril 9, 2008 issue of the Philippine Star (a copy of which is heretoattached as Annex C hereof),

. Mention may also be made here that in the middle of April, this year,Atty. Dernetrio Pre, a 72 year old law qraduate from the UP., was shot todeath right inside his residence located just near the provincial capitol, by

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qunrnen who remain unidentified to this day. And on the afternoon of thatsame day, the security detail at the 8angued municipal hall was also shotto death by unidentified men.In a way, I can only be thankful that I was no longer the Governor andalready effectively out of Abra politics when the foregoing incidentshappened, otherwise, unscrupulous persons might also connect me tothese incidents ..9. Rela tive to th e po lice investiga tion In connection w ith th e deathof Chito, I was informed that at about 8:00 p.rn, on December 16, 2006, orbarely three hours after Chito and his bodyguard were shot, the policeinvestigators were already showing sketches of the alleged assailants toAllan Sawadan at the hospital to where Sawadan had been rushed fortreatment. Sawadan was Chito's driver who had exchanged gun fires withthe assailants and was also shot at. Sawadan was, therefore, in a positionto identify the assailants. However, Sawadan informed the investigators

that the sketches did not resernole the persons of the assailants. Muchlater. when Sawadan was already recuperating in his hometown at Abra,he was again visited by police investigators urging him to sign a preparedsworn statement implicating some persons in the death of Chito. butSawadan refused to do so. Attached hereto as Annex D hereof is a copyof an Affidavit, dated January 23, 2007, of Sawadan detailing the attemptsof police investigators to lure him into signing a sworn statement along thelines wanted by the police. I was informed that before Sawadan executedthis sworn statement, he first consulted a lawyer and a priest of hisconfidence in Laoag, lIocos Norte.

Also, lately, I was informed that sometime on March 29 of this year,Sawadan was shot by a group of persons at the poblacion of Bangued,Abra. He was hit at his leg, but he survived. He is reported to be now inhiding, apparently fearing for his life. I was also informed that the men whoshot him had already been identified and/or that there are also suspects,but it seems that the police are not doing anything towards theapprehension of the malefactors or the filing of the correspondingcomplaints against them.

10. Whoever may be responsible for the death of Chito alsosucceeded in taking me and my wife Ching out of the' Abra politicalscene. Our political foes successfully capitalized on the rumors,innuendoes and propaganda linking me to the death of Chito.

,I, - - - - --' (I .. --,'

V1CEN~~RO P. VALERA\ffiant

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Subscribed and sworn to before me this 6th day of May 2006.r:,\I '\G , s d o K ' RAULA, JR.

ASsistanrCi Prosecutor

'I~I hereby certify that I have personally . amined the affiant and ( amsatisfied that he voluntarily executed and unders od his affidavit./;; \/ 1 )GIBSONAssistant

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counter affidavit of vicente valera (may 6, 2006)

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