A powerful explosion ripped through a parking lot beside the gate of the La Consolacion College of Manila (LCCM) in Mendiola yesterday afternoon, injuring at least 18 persons, including two children.
The blast occurred a scant 20 meters away from a Presidential Security Group (PSG) outpost.
Initial reports of the Explosives and Ordnance Division of the Manila Police District (MPD) showed that at around 4:10 p.m., an unidentified man lobbed a grenade at a light gray Toyota Emina van (XDV-530) and ran away. No one was inside the van when the grenade exploded, according to EOD personnel.
Priscilla Asuncion, a former barangay captain in Malacañang, was at the Café Barcelo restaurant when the blast occurred.
“I was having a meeting in the restaurant when we heard a loud boom,” Asuncion told The STAR. “I saw several people running, some of them with blood and some of them entered the restaurant seeking help,” she said.
Asuncion said the van, which was damaged by shrapnel, is owned by a professor from LCCM.
She said a vendor saw a man in a yellow button-front shirt drop something near the CRV and run away towards C.M. Recto Avenue.
She said she believes the incident may have something to do with warring fraternities. Several weeks ago, a pillbox exploded near the historic Chino Roces Bridge, she said.
She said minutes before the blast, several young men were standing beside the damaged van. She theorized that they were the targets of the explosion.
Manila’s EOD chief, Inspector Elias Lagasca Jr., said the unidentified grenade-thrower was a member of a fraternity who was “angry with the La Consolacion guard because of the tight security in the school.”
Among those hurt in the explosion were a security guard, students from different schools, vendors and bystanders.
A source from the National Bureau of Investigation said the grenade was of “low order,” meaning the device was old and did not explode at full capacity. The official said the blast crater had a five-meter radius; had the grenade exploded at full capacity, the damage would have a 15 to 20-meter radius.
EOD personnel cordoned off the explosion site to gather metal fragments from the grenade. Police said it was fortunate that the grenade-throwing incident happened during the semestral break and Holy Week vacation.
“There could be more injuries if the incident occurred during regular school days since the area is home to at least three big universities,” a police investigator said.
San Beda College and Centro Escolar University are located in the area, aside from LCCM.
PSG chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Prestoza said initial investigation points to a war between rival fraternities although other angles are being pursued.
“We are still looking at other possibilities but initial indications point to a frat war,” he said in a telephone interview.
President Arroyo was in Baguio City to address the graduation rites at the Philippine Military Academy when the grenade-throwing took place. – With Evelyn Macairan