P100,000 reward up for info on North Cotabato grenade attacks

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - The provincial government of North Cotabato on Thursday offered a P100,000 cash reward in exchange for any information leading to the arrest of the culprits in three grenade attacks that rocked Kabacan town last week.

Six Kabacan residents, among them a four-year-old child, were wounded in the bombings.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, chair of the inter-agency provincial peace and order council, said the amount will be released to anyone who can help the police identify the bombers and locate their whereabouts.

Mendoza said they have reorganized the defunct local inter-agency anti-crime group, the Kabacan Task Force, to help the police and local officials address the rash of violent incidents in the municipality.

"We are ready to provide incentives to those who can give information on the identity of the perpetrators, or the bombing masterminds,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza ordered the provincial police director, Senior Superintendent Alex Tagum, to enlist the help of sectoral and religious leaders in Kabacan in formulating security measures meant to stave off a repeat of the grenade attacks. 

The reelectionist mayor of Kabacan, Herlo Guzman, had told reporters there is a possibility the bombings were politically-motivated, intended to embarrass his administration and create the impression that he is not in control.