MANILA – A string of shooting incidents in different Abra towns the past days forced a mayor to call off Saturday's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) triple-header.

The games were moved to Paco Arena in Manila, with the Abra Solid North Weavers dumping the General Santos City Warriors, 73-53.

The Weavers were supposed to play before the home crowd for the first time this season at Andres Bernos Memorial Gymnasium in Bangued.

La Paz Mayor Joseph Bernos informed league commissioner Kenneth Duremdes, through a letter dated March 26, that “due to unforeseen circumstances” and to “ensure the safety and security of our colleagues” in the MPBL, the games have to be canceled.

"Due to the spate of violence in the last several days that have rocked the capital town of Bangued, we have jointly decided to cancel the MPBL games scheduled on March 29. The security of our visitors and Abreño sports aficionados is of utmost concern," Bernos, in his capacity as League of Municipalities of the Philippines president and Abra team owner, posted on social media Saturday.

Abra held GenSan to only four points in the first quarter and just 15 at the half en route to the blowout win and a 4-1 card.

The Weavers are coming off a 114-69 win over the Bulacan Kuyas, held at Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City on March 24.

Dave Ildefonso led the Weavers with 14 points, all but two scored in the first half, on top of four rebounds, five assists, and one steal.

Raven Gonzales sank all his 13 points in the first half, pulled down six rebounds and had two blocks.

Joel Lee Yu had 17 points, one rebound, three assists and three steals to lead the Warriors, who dropped to 2-2.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Classic bucked the home crowd to dominate Manila Batang Quiapo, 79-51, for an overall 2-3 card.

Paulo Hubalde had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead Cebu's balanced attack that saw just one player ending up scoreless.

Mark Meneses and Jan Jamon added nine points each for the visitors.

John Faa had 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals for Manila, which fell to 1-4.

In the opener, the Nueva Ecjia Rice Vanguards remained unbeaten in five starts after dumping the Valenzuela City Magic, 100-84.

The Magic dropped to 2-3.

Victims

The fatalities in Abra the past two weeks included a candidate for councilor in Pilar town, shot dead by a motorcycle-riding assassin; a driver and a barangay chair of Langiden town, both killed when the convoy of Pidigan mayoral candidate Artemio Donato Jr. was ambushed in Barangay Poblacion, Pilar; the driver of a mayoralty candidate in Tineg town, gunned down in Abra; and a dentist and a teacher, both males, fired at inside a coffee shop in Bangued.

The Police Regional Office-Cordillera Administrative Region (PRO-CAR) said Friday that it deployed an additional 100 cops to Abra province.

“We have ordered that the security operations be strengthened with the setting up of more checkpoints in the area,” PRO-CAR Director Brig. Gen. David Peredo Jr. said in a phone interview.

To date, 12 municipalities in Abra are classified orange in the Commission on Elections hotspot category, indicating the potential presence of armed groups.

The lower yellow category is for areas with suspected election-related incidents in past elections and existing intense political rivalries without involvement of local terror groups; while red, the highest, is for areas with a significant history of election-related violence and the presence of armed groups, posing a serious threat to the conduct of free and fair elections. (With a report from Liza Agoot/PNA)