2 killed in Mangudadatu convoy blast

TACURONG CITY ,Philippines  – Two persons were killed, while six others were injured in a bomb attack, as the convoy of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu was passing through a busy street here yesterday.

The bombing happened in the wake of a Department of Justice (DOJ) ruling, dismissing the murder charge filed against Mangudadatu by the wife of a shooting victim.

Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said bombers detonated the explosive placed inside a white Kia car parked along a stretch of the Marbel-Tacurong Highway, just as the governor’s convoy was passing by.

“I’m sure the very powerful bomb was intended for me,” said Mangudadatu, who was riding in his bullet proof 4x4 sports utility vehicle, the second in a convoy of more than a dozen car.

Maguindanao provincial board member Datu Rossman Sinsuat, a relative of Mangudadatu, was among those injured.

Police said the blast scene was about 100 meters from Tacurong Fitmart, an establishment repeatedly bombed by extortionists in recent years.

“I was on my way to Genalyn Resort with other Maguindanao local officials to celebrate my birthday when the explosion happened,” Mangudadatu said.

Mangudadatu said as the convoy was moving fast, when a parked white Kia Avella car (MDJ-274) suddenly went off, damaging Sinsuat’s black Toyota Fortuner (LGU-133).

“I condemn this attack, innocent civilians were hurt,” the governor said.

Mangudadatu cleared  of murder raps

A resolution signed by Undersecretary Leah Armamento, meanwhile cleared the governor of murder charges, after the complainant, Nativided de Arce Kamendan, withdrew her appeal for the dismissal of the suit against the governor.

Any questioned resolution “shall stand as if no appeal or petition has been taken” if an appeal or petition for review is withdrawn before an investigation is resolved, the DOJ resolution quoting the Revised Manual for Prosecutors said.

Kamendan filed a complaint with the DOJ, accusing Mangudadatu of alleged complicity or conspiracy in the shooting to death of her husband Tamano in February last year.

The case stemmed from an incident at a Davao City mall, when Tamano allegedly attempted to stage an ambush against Mangudadatu, who was then vice mayor of Buluan town.

His police escorts, PO1 Ibrahim Langalen and PO1 Surab Lintukan Bantas, then fired at Tamano, who forcibly took one of Mangudadatu’s daughters and attempted to snatch firearms from Bantas.

The DOJ in a joint resolution issued March 3 earlier junked the murder charge against the governor, because Natividad did not implicate Mangudadatu in her initial police statement.    – With Edu Punay