KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/ 09 November) – The mayor of President Quirino town in Sultan Kudarat, Emilio Salamanca, believed the grenade attack on his house Thursday night was “politically-motivated.”
The police, however, are still ascertaining his claim.
In a radio interview, Salamanca said he was the target of the grenade attack that exploded inside his compound in Lapu-Lapu Street in Tacurong City, which is less than a 10-minute drive from President Quirino town.
For several days now, he said he saw a number of suspicious-looking individuals loitering near his compound.
The blast has something to do with the upcoming elections in his town, claimed Salamanca, who is seeking reelection.
No one was hurt during the explosion but it sent residents near Salamanca’s compound into panic, said Supt. Gilbert Tuzon, Tacurong police chief.
Elements of the Explosives and Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and the Scene of the Crime Operatives of the Sultan Kudarat provincial police office recovered from the site fragments of a 40mm high-explosive dual purpose round.
Police said it could have been fired from an M-203 grenade launcher.
The explosive reportedly missed the house of Salamanca as it hit a palm oil tree.
The explosion occurred a day after a fragmentation grenade went off near the public market in Esperanza town, also in Sultan Kudarat, which injured four people.
Three days earlier, a suspicious baggage supposedly containing a bomb, which turned out negative, was left inside a mall in Tacurong City. (Malu Cadelina Manar/MindaNews)