Malonzo supporter hurt in blast

A supporter of incumbent Caloocan City Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo was hurt when two men hurled an improvised bomb, which exploded in front of city hall an hour past midnight yesterday.

Editha Joven, 47, of Block 12, Lot 1, Phase 3, F-1, Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan City sustained injuries in her right leg and was brought for treatment at the President Diosdado Macapagal Hospital at around 1:30 a.m.

One of the suspects, Dexter del Rosario, 23, of 10th Avenue, Caloocan City was immediately arrested by police while his companion, identified only as Kojack, evaded arrest.

Joven was one of several Malonzo supporters conducting a prayer vigil in front of city hall, where the canvassing of votes is being held.

A city hall security guard, requesting not to be named, said that the suspects intentionally threw the pillbox in an area far from the crowd.

"The explosion was quite strong, but I think it was intended to only create chaos, but not really to hurt anyone," the guard told The STAR.

Instead of throwing the bomb directly at Malonzo’s supporters, the suspects, he said, hurled it near a row of parked vehicles.

"I learned that the bomb was not rigged with shrapnel but was supposedly designed to create a strong blast," the guard said.

Malonzo’s followers held a vigil last night to protest the outcome of the initial results of the canvassing showing Malonzo, running for the city’s first district congressional seat, his wife Gigi, running for mayor, and his son Ronald, a city council candidate, were all trailing their respective rivals.

Malonzo claimed the city’s election exercise was marred with "massive cheating" and accused some teachers of conniving with his political opponents to "rig" the election results.

The mayor said he is preparing a formal protest action before the Commission of Elections (Comelec) to urge the poll body to declare a failure of election in Caloocan due to "massive fraud."

Malonzo said that apart from "fixing" election returns, several thousands of his supporters were not able to vote. There names, he said, just "disappeared" from the voter’s lists.

Initial canvassing of votes as of 11 a.m. yesterday, showed Malonzo with 6,328 votes, Oscar Malapitan 10,026 votes, Suzana Punzalan, 2,176 votes.

In the mayoralty race, Mrs. Malonzo received 7,409 votes, Enrico Echiverri 14,219, Macario Asistio Jr. 6,460, Edgar Erice 8,692.