EIGHT people were hurt after an improvised explosive device went off while a volleyball tournament was taking place in the town plaza of Datu Piang in Maguindanao.
Datu Piang Mayor Victor Samama said the explosion happened at around 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 18, 2021.
The victims were rushed to the Abpi-Samama Clinic and Hospital for treatment.
One of them sustained serious shrapnel wounds and was transferred to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center.
Samama said he received a report that the organizers, who are members of the LGBTQ community, received threats prior to the tournament and kept it a secret.
Samama said the threat allegedly came from a “radical group allergic to gays in public.”
The mayor also said the tournament was conducted without coordination with the local government units and violated health protocols related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
He said the police were still investigating the incident but he expressed confidence that the attack was carried out by the extremist Dawlah Islamiyah. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)