Grenade explodes in Abra mayor’s house; 3 arrested

DANGWA, La Trinidad, Benguet — A grenade blast ripped through the residence of the mayor of Tineg, Abra last Thursday, a belated police report said. Nobody was hurt in the blast, and three suspects were arrested.

The blast, which occurred at about 1 a.m., damaged the rear of the Tamaraw FX of Mayor Clarence Benwaren and punctured the steel gate of his residence along Bowen street.

Responding Bangued policemen, headed by Chief Inspector Virgilio Laya, cornered one Renato Ungay, 27, a former employee of radio station dwBA here.

Laya’s two companions, Jonathan Benwaren, 23, and Jefferson Labuen, 20, who were with him aboard a black motorcycle, tried to run away but were later caught by the police.

The three are all residents of Tineg town and said to be followers of Tineg Vice Mayor Edwin Crisologo.

"Thank God that the grenade was not hurled earlier," Benwaren was quoted as telling the government-run Philippine Information Agency (PIA).

Before the explosion, Benwaren and his two younger brothers, Tony and Lenin, were whiling away their time at the porch of the mayor’s bungalow when they noticed motorcycle-riding men cruising the street fronting the residence twice.

Becoming suspicious, Lenin went inside the family’s sari-sari store adjoining the Benwaren residence. Peeping through a half-opened window, he was able to identify the three men on board the motorcycle.

The explosion occurred as the three men passed by for the third time.

Last year, Crisologo lodged a complaint for dishonesty and grave abuse of authority against Benwaren, for which the mayor was suspended for 60 days. The provincial board has yet to resolve the case.

The PIA earlier quoted Benwaren as saying that he was willing to make peace with Crisologo but the reconciliation efforts failed.

Benwaren said he was still hoping that he and Crisologo could still settle their differences "so we can serve our constituents well."

A month ago, another homemade bomb exploded in front of the house of another government official in Bangued. A grenade was also lobbed at the house of a close aide of the governor.