Sixteen. Supposed to be a sweet number. It’s normally associated with a girl (or boy) blossoming into womanhood (man). A coming out of age party goes with it to celebrate.
But for Abra, Sixteen is no party at all.
For one, Dec. 16 was supposed to be the day when ABRECO Consumers will meet with ABRECO BOD’s and Management to solve the lingering issues of the Cooperative. We now know that the meeting never occured. ABRECO BOD’s rejected the call for a special general assembly because the petitioners didn’t comply with the required 10% signatures of members.
Our folks in Abra are now saying, the December 24 blackout talks is getting louder and people are worried that Abra will once again thrown into the darkness. If this happens, people will be welcoming Christmas with candles and generators.
Another significance of Sixteen is, today is the 16th death anniversary of our Congressman Chito Bersamin. He was shot in the head after standing as one of the principal sponsors at his niece’s wedding at the Mount Carmel Church in New Manila on Dec. 16, 2006. Congressman Chito was well respected and loved (I’ve met him personally on numerous occasions and I see him as a man of few words, very soft spoken and good sense of humor) by Abrenians until his unfortunate and untimely death. Former Gov. Vycsid Valera is now languishing in jail as the primary suspect. Cong. Chito’s family is still excruciatingly awaits for justice to be served.
His death of course changed the political sctructure of the province as Kira Paredes wrote a piece on Who Really Benefit from Cong. Bersamin’s death.
You can call it coincidence, both directly unrelated events but it has affected the lives fo Abrenians. Both are definitely are bitter pills to swallow. – SysOp
abrenian.com 
who benefited the death of sir chito? saan nga masapul ni vicsyd ti ipapatay ni sir chito ta mayat met ti political tandem da nga duwa. maururnos da met nga kanayon ti problema da nu dumteng ti pinakpipinolitika. gaditay a nag ambisyon ti nangatngato nga turay ken saan nga mapmapnek nga familya ti na benefitan. Kitan yo kadi, pati saan da nga ili ken sinerek dan nga pagkandidatoan.
Posted by zaldy luyot | December 16, 2012, 4:25 pmi agree with you zaldy luyot. ti damag ko idi manipud kadagiti naasideg ken cong chito ket kastoy: 1. idi madama nga imimbestigaren dagiti polis diay driver idi ni cong a nakipinnaltog, immuestra na ti rupa dagiti kinapinnaltog na ngem sabali met a rupa ti idrowing da nga ipakita da yanti driver, saan nga isu dagiti kuna na kano nga ipapilit. kalpasan kano iti 3 nga aldaw, adda 3 a tao a naiwalang diay quezon city, isu dagiti ti kinapinnaltog ko kuna na kano. kayat na a sawen, ipilit dagiti polisia nga agitudo iti sabali a tao tay kakasi a driver a nakaanayan a nanggurguraan ti pamilya bersamin kanyana gapu kano ta saan a nakikooperar iti imbestigador tapno masolbar ti kaso ni cong.
Posted by dodo | December 16, 2012, 6:17 pmif vicsyd s nt responsible for d death of chto then ask chari to widraw d case agnst vicsyd period.
Posted by soberdinate | December 17, 2012, 6:42 amusto ka dodo! kasla ammum t napasamak yanti driver ni cong idi. talaga nga kinagurgura t pamilya bersamin j driver agraman pamilya j driver na pati ultimo nanang na idi nga emplyado t capitolyo ket impurwak ni madaydayaw a gobernador u takit bersamin djy sabali nga munisipyo nga nakaadadayu, to think that she’s old to travel. see dats what a great power takit can do! when in fact han met nga kashy t ugali ni apo cong chito. d paylang ngarud dgjy police nga pol-pol t nagwitness nu suda metla t mangipapilit t itudo j ususto nga witness. mennel da la unay!
Posted by american star | December 19, 2012, 6:02 amd question as who benefited from d untimely demise of then Cong. Chito, no matter how we see it, only tends to pinpoint to one specific family…while i don’t like to point one finger (as d saying goes, I’ll be pointing 4 fingers towards me), I understand d reason why. D late congressman is such a good man, a fine man by one’s lofty standards, a true leader to his constituents, a great loss to a then great province like ours. It seems d better question to be answered is who suffered most from his death. Of course, the people of Abra, who, once in our glorious past, were then having a rare chance to being led by a good man, a true great leader, whose dedicated public service stands out. He was then d champion of d masses, whose leadership by example was widely recognized. He was extremely popular, respected, loved by d people; and envied by his opponents/detractors. He served with a purpose and dedication; performance thru action. If we name our great Abra leaders, he’s surely one of some to come to mind! A man who served his people well, that even in death, he’s so fondly remembered!
Posted by RIMAT TI ABRA | December 16, 2012, 9:15 pmSORRY BUT DISAGREE AKO DIYAN. mas maganda siguro kung tanuning natin: who killed cong chito?
Posted by dodo | December 17, 2012, 6:19 amung paderby ni takit sa agtangao in celebration sa death aniversary ni chito muntik mga tao ang ngsabong sa loob ng rweda. ngbunotan ng baril c eric parel at popoy na bata ni gob. muntikan ng marame mamatay dahl andun sa side ni popoy ng ga millare grp at mga salayot boys ni dondon sa panig ni eric. ung major ng pnp umawat peru d man lng dinisarmahan ung dalawa na ngbunotan ng baril so rd n pd pakiimbestiga po.
Posted by leo nnlasco | December 17, 2012, 6:35 am@ DODO: We can always agree to disagree g’yem, without becoming disagreeable, right? That’s d true essence of free democracy…Me, too, I have some people in mind! But until and unless d real culprit are brought to justice, and justice is truly served, all our arguments here as to who killed d late Cong. remain as assumptions and speculations…But for purposes of a healthy discussion, let’s get it on! Let us know what’s on your mind…
Posted by RIMAT TI ABRA | December 17, 2012, 9:08 pmsaint si chito sa pgdescribe mo rimat sana santo dn tng c takit.
Posted by jerome | December 17, 2012, 6:38 amSinu si dondon?
Posted by SOSOP | December 17, 2012, 6:49 amask mu pnp taga abra ung batch 98 zaldy leones n c dumlao
Posted by soberdinate | December 17, 2012, 9:25 pm@JEROME: There could be no saints in politics, only leaders who performed well. It is my personal opinion alone that d late Cong. Chito deserves to be in d conversation of “Great Leaders of Abra”, past and present. And rightfully so, if we compare him (and what he had done) to our present breed of elected public officials in Abra. Could be right there alongside ex-Cong. Jeremias Zapata, I also think. As to his brod, d incumbent Gov. Takit, I’m not so fast to say just yet as I am not convinced…perhaps, a long way to go, but who knows, he might get there…someday, somehow. Leave that to history, only time will tell!
Posted by RIMAT TI ABRA | December 17, 2012, 8:52 pmmalabo c takit kc c ruby man ang gob
Posted by soberdinate | December 17, 2012, 9:18 pmYEEEAAH ….Right !….It is still early to tell that we had produced a lame-duck governor for just like the President he has some accomplishments to boast amidst the storms of negative feedback. I don’t believe either that the Gov. could be influenced by anybody or his wife, because he is intelligent enough to accept responsibilities whatever the outcome of his actions or signatures considering that the blood that flows through his heart or veins is Bersamin blood. And who knows, thru the power of his wife’s unwavering FAITH, he could also emulate the President’s political will or courage to stop not minimize corruption in the province as his legacy to the Abrenians for life.
I agree with you Rimat…leave that to history…and if he could imprisoned all corrupt politicians in the province?…..that’s a REAL HISTORY that will serve as a memory for his brother’s death and catapult the Bersamin clan into lifetime political reign where no abrenian blood could ever pull down.
Posted by life is worth dying for | December 18, 2012, 2:37 pmd nga nya kaya ihulog at paimbestgahan sa ngbankarote sa abreco.
Posted by drunken master | December 19, 2012, 6:47 amdagijay nalaing nga agibaon nga agpatay isu nangpapatay keni chito,demonic ken bernos nang finance.
Posted by dr koting | December 17, 2012, 9:17 pmiwidraw u garud kaso u ken bos vicsyd
Posted by Xsdws | December 18, 2012, 8:22 amno nangeg kayo ti dzpa tatay.inamin ti abreco nga imutangda keni cong joy ti pinagbayad da idi brownout ti abra,ktaem kakaasi tayo manen ta syempre ada interest na djay sitayo manen ti kakaasin.ktaen u ta bill tayo nagdakel ti penalty na,awanen talaga nga hantayo amun nya ti ub ubraen ti abrecon.bale family bisnes da cong joy ti abreacon ah.
Posted by timek ti bangued | December 18, 2012, 4:56 amsa politics there is no such thing as permanent friend or enemy, only permanent interest. ti interest dagijay nangpapatay ken cong. chito ket maymaysa nd of cors permanent and that is to grab power, become rich and become the God of abra. napigsa daytoy nga motivator nga mangaramid iti uray ania nga kinasairo. idi linuguban da vicsyd agkakadua bernos, luna, dominic. idi napadso dan lakay isu da metten agsisinnangdo ta maysa-maysa ket kayat da metten agari abra. this is a high end game that the rich and powerful play and we the hapless people are their toys. sitayo ngamin ket we practice patronage politics. ni sir, ni maam. amin garaw tayo magna ken ni sir ken maam. amin kasapulan tayo mapan tayo ken ni sir ken maam. nagbalin tayon nga sadot. sadot nga aggaraw para tumakder on our own feet, ngabalin tayon nga sadot nga agpanunot ket isu dayta ti kayat dagitoy nga politicos nga agbalin tayo nga paspasurot kania da. with this kind of situation, what do you think then is our future? ania iti agbalin nga kapanunutan dagiti sumaruno nga generation. ubbing da pay laeng na brain wash dan nga isu da ket kasapulan mangbirok patron da ta uray no haan da makaadal, haan da usaren utek da ket makapagtrabaho da la ketdi umasideg da ken sir ken maam. what a pity!!! uray ania aramiden tayo no kastoy iti maiyadal kadagiti tattao aglalo kadagiti ubbing ket haan latta nga agbaliw iti kasasaad iti abra. the sink hole will continue to widen and soon will engulf us all.
i believe many of us dn’t want to see this happen isu nga uray kaskasano key we try to voice out our sentiments, share our ideas (using any means inc a.com) hoping that somehow it will trigger the minds and hearts of those who want to see changes that they may take action and get rid of this evil that is dominating the lives of the people of abra. i believe that many of us want real change coz we understand very well the ill effect of this situation to our present and future life. the BIG Q is that can we join all our forces and act as ONE to counter the devils??? or are we dependent on the system that we don’t want to lose our meager privileges. there is a saying that “the time you quit that is also the time you die.” so when we resign to the evil system (we quit opposing) then we can consider ourselves dead and dead indeed is our life in abra if this evil system will not be changed. we don’t want to see abra as a place for walking deads, a place of zombies. ta kasta pagbalinan tayo no haan nga mabaliwan iti sinairo nga sistema ditoy abra.
Posted by manna.lon | December 18, 2012, 10:08 pmket paruaren nyo garud ni vicsyd ah nu haan isu ti master mind
Posted by pugo bird | December 19, 2012, 1:32 amGood points Mannalon! As a starter, we need to encourage or force our brave and rightful leaders like Rimat, Joson, and those candidates analyzed and offered by Rimat for a worthy try (read “Running vs. Dynasties much like Sacrifice”) to be our main candidates in the 2016 Election. If we failed to encourage them or the general electorate will fail them, then we have no more recourse other than going back to the drawing board again until their kinds will be produced in the years to come. Hopefully, they will not be prevented or victimized then by the so called RH Bill or any anti-devices that curtail their right to exist on this earth that only God has the right to decide.
Posted by paltat | December 20, 2012, 11:43 amKASTOY MAN TI AMMOK . . . idi daydi a tiempo ti bulan ti oktubre, 2006, nagsasabat ti kapanunutan daydi cong chito, maysa nga agnagan ti atty astudillo nga international lawyer a kuna nda nga naed ti zone 5, ken sumagmamano nga bongalngalan a politiko dita abra. nabalabala da nga agtitipon ti pwersa da a lumaban iti politika dita abra. napagtitinongan da daytoy a line-up – atty astudillo for congress, chito for governor, dr litong valera para vice governor ken daydi vocal james bersamin para mayor ti bangued. ADDA DAGITI KAKADUA DA NGA AWAN PAGPWESTUAN DA. sinno da dagita? linib-at da nga immuna daydi bokal james. nya gapu? politika wenno adda pakainaigan na iti panangkotkot na ti problema pinansial ti abreco idi daydi a tiempo. ti gm ti abreco idi ket ni agdama a mayor ti san juan ita. simmaruno nga kinettel da ti anges ni cong chito. NEXT-ABANGAN ANG SUSUNOD NA KABANATA KAS KUNA DA. adda ngamin pay papanak
Posted by dodo | December 20, 2012, 3:42 pmhistory na yan nasa archives na nga e c takit na gob ngaun kung wala knalaman c vicsyd lets us d bersamin tn free d xmas n be a substituted candidate eithr for govnrnur or congresman
Posted by drunken master | December 21, 2012, 5:20 amhistory na yan nasa archives na nga e c takit na gob ngaun kung wala knalaman c vicsyd lets us d bersamin tn free him ds xmas n be a substituted candidate eithr for govnrnur or congresman
Posted by drunken master | December 21, 2012, 5:21 am