Police, military tighten security in Central Mindanao

COTABATO CITY — Authorities tightened security in two Central Mindanao towns following a spate of grenade attacks that triggered panic among local residents.

Col. Franklin Del Prado, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said soldiers based in Tupi are now on full alert to thwart a repeat of Sunday’s explosions in Barangay Polonuling.

Tupi‘s police investigators said the unidentified gunmen twice blasted shoulder-fired grenades near the houses of Muslim and Christian settlers in Barangay Polonuling, which, for two weeks now, has been gripped by tension spawned by recent encounters between the feuding groups.

No one was reported killed or injured in the attacks but local residents were forced to evacuate to safer grounds for fear of another bombing incident.

Del Prado said officials of the Army’s 601st Brigade are now formulating measures, with the help of local religious and political leaders, to stave off escalation of hostilities in Barangay Polonuling.

The explosions in Tupi were followed by a grenade attack Sunday night at the front yard of the Collado family in Kabacan, North Cotabato.

Senior Inspector Abelio Jungaya, police chief of Kabacan, said a motorcycle-riding suspect casually pulled over in front of the Collado compound, tossed the grenade and hurriedly left.

There have been more than 20 bombings in Kabacan in the past 24 months, some blamed on extortionists preying on members of the local business community.