Kabunsuan mayor survives bombing

COTABATO CITY – A town mayor survived a roadside bombing at the border of Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan yesterday, authorities said.    

Salaban Diocolano, mayor of Kabuntalan, a secluded town in Shariff Kabunsuan, and his security escorts were on their way home from the liaison office of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao when the improvised explosive device, planted on a bridge at the boundary of the two provinces, went off.    

A vehicle tailing the convoy of Diocolano and his men was hit by shrapnels.   

No one was reported killed or wounded in the explosion, but the incident triggered panic in villages near the bridge.           

Diocolano has been critical of last Monday’s harassment by Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels of voters in two barangays in his town, where the guerrillas forced villagers to vote for a favored candidate.      

ARMM police director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao and his escorts also passed by the same route about 30 minutes earlier after a meeting with Ampatuan in Shariff Aguak.