1 injured in poll-related bomb attack

PAGADIAN -- A security guard was wounded Thursday in a bomb attack on an official in this southern town in the latest spate of violence related to the May 10 national elections.

Two men riding in a pick-up truck hurled a grenade at the home of Provincial Board (PB) Member Dinah Marasigan in Pagadian city before dawn, scattering shrapnel on the roof, the gate and a vehicle parked outside, Marasigan said.

She voiced suspicions that the bombing was instigated by rival politicians.

"I'm sure this is backed up by some big figure," she pointed out.

Conflicts in and around this city have grown increasingly heated as the elections approach. At least five political activists, two district officials and a mayoral candidate have been killed since March.

Violence often mars elections in the country, where the police and the military have to contend with "private armies" of politicians.

Recently, a policeman in Abra province was shot to death by one of 15 armed suspects over the weekend as series of violence ahead of the May 10 polls continue to hound the Abra Provincial Police Office.

A belated report from the Police Regional Office (PRO) Cordillera revealed that Police Office 2 Cesar Tuqueza Balbuena, 42, of Poblacion, Dolores town, Abra was shot several times while he was trying to pacify a group of men who were committing trouble along the highway.

The suspects, whom sources claimed are the ones sowing terror in the area, carted away Balbuena's service firearm when they fled.

Concerned residents rushed Balbuena to the Seares Memorial Clinic in the capital town of Bangued but was pronounced dead on arrival by attending physician.

Balbuena's death added to a series of shooting incidents resulting to multiple deaths in Abra province, one of the identified special concerns of the Philippine National Police in this year's election.

As the incident happened, Chief Supt. Rowland Albano, PRO-CAR director, immediately ordered an intensified manhunt against the suspects, whom sources said are just freely roaming the municipality and nearby towns.

At least two of the 15 suspects were identified by the police as Asiong Reyes and Boy Reyes.

Meanwhile, Balbuena's death also cast doubt on the capability of the Abra police, headed by Senior Supt. Artemio Hicban, to ensure the safety and protection of lowly residents, especially during the May 10 elections.

Abrenians even claimed the P30,000 cash reward for any individual who could positively pinpoint to the police a loose firearm holder seemed not effective.

They alleged that most of the armed men, some of them allegedly work as private goons of politicians, are based in Bangued and not in remote towns.

Albano, however, said the P30,000 cash reward is effective following the arrest of four suspected private goons of an alleged ranking politician in the province. (AFP and Harley F. Palangchao of Sun.Star Baguio)