General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera inspects the blast site and visits the wounded victims in hospital shortly after an improvised explosive went off late Tuesday at a plaza there. (Photos by Russel Delvo)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – One person was killed and 11 others were reported injured after three powerful explosions late Tuesday hit the cities of Cagayan de Oro, General Santos and Lamitan – all in southern Philippines, police said.
Police said three cops were wounded when a man they were trying to arrest on drug charges tossed a grenade near a commuter terminal in Cagayan de Oro. The man was eventually killed.
“It was a police operation. Our policemen were trying to serve an arrest warrant on a man facing drug charges and he pulled out a grenade and exploded it to the cops. Three policemen were injured and they were rushed to the hospital. The man was eventually killed,” a police investigator told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
In General Santos, at least 8 people were wounded when an improvised explosive went off at the Rizal plaza near the City Hall building, according to Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command.
He said no individual claimed responsibility for the explosion and that authorities are investigating the motive of the attack. “The Joint Task Force Gensan of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division and the police authorities responded immediately to assist the victims. Authorities are investigating the blast.
City Mayor Ronnel Rivera visited the victims in the hospital and assured their families that the government will shoulder all their expenses and medicines.
He also ordered security forces to immediate resolve the bombing. “I want to pin down immediately whoever are behind this explosion. I don’t want these people to create more havoc to Gensan,” Rivera said. “Gensan is steadily progressing. This blast will somehow be a deterrent to the vibrant economy of the city, especially to the entry of investments.”
Rivera appealed to residents to stay calm and vigilant.
“I want all residents to be strong in these times. Let us not blame and point fingers because that won’t really help. Let us be vigilant, let us help one another because Gensan is our home,” he said.
A grenade also exploded at a warehouse in Lamitan City. Police said one of two men riding on a motorcycle lobbed the grenade, but there was no report of casualties.
The explosions occurred at a time that authorities were closely monitoring local sympathizers of the Islamic group called IS in Iraq and Syria after more than a hundred Filipinos were said to have joined the fighting in Iraq and that two had died in the battle. (Mindanao Examiner)
20