2 hurt in Taguig pillbox blast

A barangay tanod and a Metro aide were hurt in a pillbox explosion believed to be targeting one of them before dawn yesterday in Upper Bicutan, Taguig.

The victims, identified as Domingo Flores, 54, a barangay watchman, and Arcelli Tabangcora, 46, a street sweeper, sustained wounds in the legs and chest, respectively.

Police Inspector Augusto Mateo, commander of Precinct 2, said the two were performing their respective duties at around 4:05 a.m. on Maharlika Road when two unidentified male suspects suddenly threw the explosives at them.

After the pillbox exploded near a parked passenger jeepney, which was just some 50 meters away from the police precinct, the two suspects immediately fled on foot towards Maharlika Village, the investigator said.

Tabangcora was rushed to the Rizal Medical Center while Flores was brought to a nearby hospital.

Mateo said they are eyeing two possible angles on the attack — the perpetrators were either neighbors with whom Flores had an altercation with or rivals of Tabangcora over a land dispute.

Flores told investiga-tors that he has a standing quarrel with several Muslim neighbors and claimed that they were capable of such an attack.

Tabangcora, on the other hand, earlier went to the police station about a death threat she received through a text message last Feb.25.

She said the death threat had something to do with the dispute over a piece of land that she owns.

Police said they would be looking into the two angles closely.

"But whichever angle we end up with, we will make sure the perpetrators will pay," Mateo said in a phone interview. "Their means of retaliating is very dangerous and terrorist-like. Many people could have been hurt or killed if it was a stronger explosive that they used."

Mateo said as part of their investigation, they would be coordinating with Muslim communities involved.

"The leaders have always been cooperative," he added.