DOJ chief condemns Maguindanao bomb attack

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima believes the bombing in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao yesterday was perpetrated to scare people from going to the province on the first anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre tomorrow.

In a text message, De Lima said, “Whoever were behind this latest incident are probably trying to scare off the hundreds expected to flock to the massacre site tomorrow for the first year commemoration of the massacre.”

A bomb hidden in an old motorcycle exploded near a public school in Shariff Aguak yesterday while Mayor Kagul Akmad Ampatuan and his bodyguards were passing by on board separate vehicles.

Two passersby, Diampaka and Bailen Uy, were wounded and taken to the nearest hospital.

Two days before the first anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre, gunmen also simultaneously opened fire with automatic weapons at the houses of farmers in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, where the killings took place.

Responding tanods of Barangay Kalkal in Ampatuan town returned fire and wounded three of the attackers, according to Capt. Raz Bansawan, Army 6th Infantry Division deputy civil-military chief.

Leading the attackers was a certain Tuwabak, a notorious leader of a gang foraging food and mulcting money from residents, Bansawan added.

Tuwabak and his men retreated to various directions, dragging along their wounded after sensing the arrival of Army reinforcements, according to Bansawan.

In Shariff Aguak, the old motorcycle containing the bomb was parked on the roadside, according to Maguindanao police commander Senior Superintendent Marcelo Pintac.

Police are investigating if the bomb was intended for the mayor, he added. - With John Unson