Bystander hurt in blast near mayor’s residence

COTABATO CITY — An innocent bystander was wounded when a still unidentified man blasted the other night a fragmentation grenade near the house here of a Maguindanao town mayor, the second election-related bomb attack in the city this week.

Probers said the wounded civilian, Jack Dagandal, is now undergoing medication at a local hospital.

The lone bomber, according to probers, was first seen suspiciously walking past the gate of the residence of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, re-elected mayor of Datu Piang, Maguindanao.

The man tossed the grenade near Ampatuan’s yard after sensing that the mayor’s Army and police escorts noticed him. Ampatuan’s security men chased him but failed.

The incident came on the heels of the grenade attack midnight Tuesday inside the premises of a small hotel here where a candidate for the provincial board of Maguindanao was billeted.

No one was killed or injured in the explosion, but the attack panicked residents near the hotel, who were still reeling from tension since last Monday’s elections here and in nearby towns in Maguindanao.

Probers said a car was first seen repeatedly passing by in front of the gate of the Kayabe Lodge, where Datu Wata Adzik, a candidate for the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Maguindanao, was staying.

Canvassing of votes in Maguindanao has been markedly slow. Not a single winner has been proclaimed as of press time.

Investigators have no solid clues yet on the identities of those behind the two bombing attacks, except for theories that the incidents were election-related.

Meanwhile, all is set for today’s special elections in Matanog, a critical town in Maguindanao, where polling last May 14 was marred by hostilities between two rival political factions.

"It’s all systems go, as far as our preparations for the special elections in Matanog is concerned," said lawyer Clarita Callar, Region 12 director of the Commission on Elections.

Callar said all election paraphernalia needed for the special elections have arrived from Manila and that they expect today’s electoral exercise to be peaceful and orderly.

Callar said Matanog, the known gateway to Camp Abubakar, the former bastion of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, is now tightly secured by combatants of the 3rd Marine Brigade.

Local poll personnel were forced to cancel the May 14 polls in Matanog after followers of mayoral candidate Kahir Macapeges, led by his son Jamal, stormed the town hall and clashed with members of the local board of election inspectors.

The trouble, police said, stemmed from the poll body’s clustering and transfer of voting precincts in Macapeges’ bailiwicks to villages controlled by his rival, re-electionist Mayor Nasser Imam.

Tension escalated when still unidentified gunmen twice shelled the premises of the town hall with 60 mm mortars.

"We are confident that the previous incident will not be repeated anymore," Callar said.