MILF group behind slay attempt on Sarangani governor?

MANILA, Philippines - A Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) group may have plotted the roadside bombing attack on the convoy of Sarangani Gov. Miguel Dominguez last Monday, the military said yesterday.

In a text message, Lt. Col. Edgardo de Leon, commander of the Army’s 73rd Infantry Battalion, said this is one of the two angles being probed by the authorities.

De Leon recalled that Dominguez has pledged a P100,000 reward for the recapture of MILF leader Mohammad Jaafar Maguid who escaped from the provincial jail last January.

Maguid was tagged in the attacks on Maasim town in 2008 that killed two civilians.

De Leon added though that politics is also being considered in the attack.

The camp of Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential bet Gilbert Teodoro is also eyeing both angles in the attempt on Dominguez’s life.

De Leon said bomb experts recovered a 105-mm Howitzer projectile tied beneath the seat of a motorcycle parked at the end of the Lun Masla Bridge in Malapatan, Sarangani. Attached to it were a commercial short-range handheld radio and an electronic box.

Dominguez was on his way to General Santos City to meet with Teodoro when the explosion happened. No one was killed or injured in the incident. 

Dominguez is seeking re-election under the local party Sarangani Reconciliation and Reformation Organization.

The People’s Champ Movement of boxing champ and Sarangani congressional bet Manny Pacquiao said the bomb attack was a “cheap political ploy” to justify placing the province under the control of the Commission on Elections. – With Rose Tamayo-Tesoro, Jaime Laude and Nonong Baliao