Blast kills 2 in Caloocan

Two female poll watch volunteers of mayoral candidate former Caloocan Rep. Enrico Echiverri were killed on the spot while several others were wounded after two unidentified motorcycle-riding men threw a grenade in front of the congressman’s campaign headquarters late Sunday night in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City.

Chief Inspector Nestor Dioso, Police Sub-station 3 commander, identified the fatalities as Violeta Cabiguen, 39, campaign coordinator and Joy Jandoquillo, 17, youth volunteer, both of Phase 8A, Package 11, Block 125, Bagong Silang.

One of the several wounded was identified as Rona Jandoquedo, 13, also of the same neighborhood. She was taken to the Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital (formerly Tala Leprosarium Hospital) for treatment and was declared in stable condition.

Chief Inspector Filemon Porciuncula, SOCO medico-legal officer, who autopsied the victims, said Cabuigen died of hemorrhagic shock due to multiple shrapnel wounds in the body and arms.

Her right forearm was almost severed even as shrapnel fragments, six of which were still embedded in her body, tore through her heart, left lung and right forearm. Jandoquillo was hit by a tiny metal fragment that embedded itself in her heart but Porciuncula said it was enough to kill her.

A seminar for poll watchers conducted by Echiverri himself had just ended at around 10:35 p.m. Sunday when the blast occurred.

Cabiguen was lying down on a bench and Jandoquillo was sitting on a chair just outside the door of Echiverri’s campaign headquarters when the suspects drove by and threw the grenade.

Apparently, Cabiguen, curious about what was thrown her way, stood to pick it up when it suddenly exploded.

SOCO team leader Senior Inspector Domingo Alminana recovered four plastic bags of metal fragments of a hand grenade, including the safety lever and ‘striker spring," at the crime scene.

Echiverri blasted his political rivals for sowing terror among his followers.

"We condemn this senseless killing in the strongest terms possible and will not stop until justice is served to these innocent victims. This dastardly act could only be done by my desperate political opponents, the ones desperately wanting to perpetuate themselves in power and the only ones capable of doing this treacherous act," Echiverri said.

He was quick to accuse Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo, who is running for a congressional seat, as the one responsible for the incident.

Malonzo denied the accusation and dared the congressman to back his charges with evidence.

The mayor said he would never resort to brutal acts that victimize innocent individuals just to advance his political ambitions.

Northern Police District director Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco Jr. tried to steer clear of the political rivalry angle and blamed other groups out to destabilize the government.

"There is a possibility that the perpetrators do not belong to any contending political parties, but other groups interested in making the elections chaotic to discredit the government. – With Pete Laude