Braving gangland politics

Manila: Opposition candidate from Northern Luzon, Cecy Luna, 54, is braving northern Luzon's gangland politics, where political rivals kill to stay afloat.

"My family members, allies, and friends will always surround me and protect me," says Luna, who has eight grown-up children in Abra, a province which has witnessed much blood on its streets since the start of the campaign period in January.

"Almost all of them are willing to die for me," Luna says of her extended family, adding that a group of dedicated volunteers in the clan represent her second line of defence.

"I feel secure," she says of the phalanx of heavily armed supporters who surround her.

In recent times, Abra's feudal social set-up has been compounded by political power vested in a few rich families, with the greater population mired in poverty.

Luna's main talking point has always been political survival. "Who would not be afraid in such an atmosphere," she asks.

She should be afraid. In early May, six cousins and nephews were killed while on the campaign trail. Supporters blame outgoing Governor Vicente Valera for the attack.

"I wish to change Abra. It has natural resources; it can rise beyond poverty," she asserts.