GUINDULUNGAN, Maguindanao (MindaNews/26)—A village chief was killed while two others were wounded in an explosion here Thursday morning, with the victim’s wife claiming the attack could be due to politics.
Killed in the blast near a cafeteria along the national highway was Barangay Macasampen chair Salindato Rajamuda.
He was about to disembark from a Tamaraw FX vehicle when the improvised explosive device went off, which also injured his 14-year old son Toto and seven-year old Sandra Hassan.
Rajamuda and his son were to have a breakfast at the cafeteria owned by a relative. The girl was inside the eatery and hit in the chest by splinters.
The village official was rushed to the Notre Dame Hospital in Cotabato City but did not make it alive.
Anisa Rajamuda, the eatery owner, described the explosion as “very loud.”
The impact of the bomb, she said, reached the kitchen where she was preparing pastil, a local rice delicacy filled with chicken wrapped in banana leaves.
Ging-ging Rajamuda, the village chair’s widow, believed the attack could be politically motivated.
Last October 15 year, she recalled that their eldest son, Allohanie, 20, a student at the Mindanao State University in Dalican, Datu Odin Sinsuat, was also shot to death by unknown assailants while on his way home.
Days after the killing of their son, she said that an unidentified woman called up and warned that her husband should not dip his hands in local politics.
The caller said the killing of their son has something to do with politics, the mother added.
If your husband will not leave politics, your family members will all be killed, she recalled the caller as saying in Filipino.
The victim, however, was not running for any position in the May 13, 2013 local elections.
Senior Supt. Rodelio Jocson, Maguindanao police director, said the local police are still investigating the motive for the incident. (Ferdinandh Cabrera/MindaNews)