Grenade hurled at Laguna mayor brother's farmhouse

CAMP VICENTE LIM , Philippines  – A farm caretaker was hurt when an unidentified man hurled a grenade at the farmhouse owned by the brother of an incumbent mayor of Cabuyao Laguna early Thursday, police said.

Superintendent Dante Novicio, Cabuyao police chief identified the victim as Noel Zoleta, 37, a stay-in caretaker of Hemedez Farm in Barangay Mamatid, owned by Leopoldo Hemedes, brother of Cabuyao Mayor Isidro Hemedes.

Investigation showed Zoleta was sleeping inside his quarter when a fragmentation grenade landed on his shanty’s roof and exploded around 4 a.m. Zoleta sustained minor injuries from the grenade shrapnel while his wife who was sleeping at the other portion of the house was left unscathed.

In a phone interview with Novicio, he dismissed politics as the motive of the incident, saying – “Kung ang target nila ay si mayor, bakit naman yung farm ng kapatid nya ang pasasabugin? Novicio said Mayor Hemedes and his brother live in Barangay Sala, a few kilometers away from the farm. Novicio said the bombing incident could be attributed to the firing of one of Leopoldo Hemedes’ driver last month.

“Mukhang gumanti yung nasibak na driver, pero tinitignan din namin ang ibang anggulo ng kaso,” Novicio said.

However, Boy Batiao, Hemedes’ staff in a phone interview said the incident could be politically motivated. 

He said some of the village captains who were known to be supporters of the mayor had received black ribbons at their homes with messages such as “bilang na ang araw mo (your days are numbered).”