ARMM police to tighten security after Basilan blasts

Chief Supt. Noel delos Santos, ARMM police regional director, directed Senior Supt. Alex Lineses, Basilan’s provincial police director, to establish checkpoints along major arteries to thwart any attempt at destabilizing campaign activities in Basilan and Isabela City.

This comes after unidentified men set off two improvised explosive devices in separate areas in Basilan on Thursday night.

Nobody was hurt in the blasts, Lineses said in a phone interview. 

The first explosion occurred at about 9 p.m. followed minutes later by another blast that destroyed the vehicle of Lamitan City Vice Mayor Arleigh Eisma. Eisma is running for city mayor.  

The vehicle was parked in front of the mayoralty candidate's residence along Aguinaldo Street.

The second blast occurred in front of a chapel in Barangay Colonia, not far from the center of Lamitan, seat of the provincial government of Basilan. 

Basilan is a component province of ARMM.

Eisma refused to issue any statement on the incident. 

Lineses said the bombs could be intended to other areas or other targets but the presence of lawmen forced the suspected bomber to hastily abandon the explosives elsewhere.

Lineses also appealed to the public to help the police thwart bombings by reporting the presence of suspicious looking persons, or detection of any unattended baggage, or boxes in any part of the city.

Initial investigation showed the IED used in the latest bombings in Lamitan City were fashioned from 60 mm mortar rounds with mobile phones as blasting mechanism.

Thursday night's twin blasts came while the city and the province were experiencing power outages.