Gift bomb kills Taguig housewife

MANILA, Philippines - A woman was killed yesterday after a grenade placed in a gift-wrapped box exploded in Taguig City, police have reported.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Nicanor Bartolome said the victim, Yvonne Chua, 31, was killed while opening the deadly gift at her house along Acacia Avenue at Mahogany Place III Subdivision in Barangay Bambang, Taguig City at around 10:30 a.m.

Bartolome said Chua died of shrapnel wounds when one of three grenades exploded when the victim opened the booby-trapped gift box.

“The package might have been opened by the victim on her lap because her wounds were mostly on the stomach,” Bartolome said.

He said the victim was with her seven-year-old daughter while she was opening gifts in the living room.

Investigators said Chua’s daughter was not hurt by the blast. The victim’s husband Vinzon was not at the house.

Chief Superintendent Jose de los Santos, director of the Southern Police District, said an M23 grenade exploded, while two other grenades – another M23 and an M2 – did not explode and were recovered with their pins intact.

De los Santos said the motive for the bombing could be personal but investigators are looking at several angles, including business rivalry over the real estate business of the couple’s family.

Taguig City police chief Senior Superintendent Tomas Apolinario said the package could really be intended for Mrs. Chua because it had a handwritten note, which read, “To Yvonne. Merry Merry Christmas.”

“That’s why she was the one who opened the package,” Apolinario said.

Apolinario said the motive could be a personal grudge against the victim.

He said the Chua couple were both unemployed but were assisting their family in the real estate business.

Apolinario said Chua’s husband had told investigators that his wife had enemies. The police are now verifying the husband’s claim.

Police said the deadly gift was delivered last Tuesday night by still unidentified suspects at the family’s old house at a subdivision at Barangay Sto. Niño in Parañaque City.

Investigators said the Chua family’s longtime driver picked up the package and brought it to the victim’s house in Taguig yesterday morning.

“The M23 was meant to induce the other bombs,” said Bartolome, adding that this could be the work of professionals, based on the way the bombs were packed.

“It was very risky because the bombs even lasted for a night,” Bartolome added.

Apolinario said the family is still in shock and “very much affected” but they are cooperating with police investigators.

Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano condemned the bombing and ordered local police investigators to conduct a thorough investigation.

“I have already ordered the Taguig police station under Senior Superintendent Apolinario Jr. to conduct an extensive and exhaustive investigation on the circumstances of the blast, which according to initial reports was caused by a gift-wrapped explosive,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano assured residents that the incident is an isolated case, adding that police are doing everything to catch the perpetrators at the soonest possible time.

“My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mrs. Chua,” Cayetano said. With Jose Rodel Clapano