COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 1, 2012) – Three people were slightly wounded in a bomb explosion late Thursday in the southern Philippine city of Cotabato, authorities said.
It said the improvised explosive went off at around 7.30 p.m. outside the regional office of the Government Service Insurance System and the Barter trade center along Gutierrez Street. The wounded – Pendiwata Sandigan, Bainot Pasandalan and Jessie Tengson were rushed to hospital.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Cotabato, once tagged by the United States as a “doormat” for terrorists in the southern Philippines, is one of the most dangerous places in Mindanao with killings occurring almost every day and had been a target of terror attacks in recent years.
In January, an improvised bomb assembled from an 81mm mortar, exploded in downtown Cotabato, wounding two civilians and two more had been disarmed. The blast was largely blamed to the shadowy groups called Bangsamoro Independence Movement and Bangsamoro Youth Movement.
Cotabato City Vice Mayor Muslimen Sema was also wounded in a daring attack by two gunmen who were also killed by the politician’s bodyguards. Sema was in his car heading home from his office when the gunmen, wearing body armor, attacked the vehicle. (With a report from Mark Navales)
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