Revenge behind attack on Bukidnon church - bishop

MANILA, Philippines - A Catholic bishop said revenge by irate Maranao Muslims could be the motive behind yesterday’s grenade attack on the San Vicente Ferrer parish in Kalilangan, Bukidnon that wounded at least two parishioners.

Citing police reports, Malaybalay, Bukidnon Bishop Jose Araneta Cabantan said yesterday’s incident could be related to the attack by Maranao Muslims on the Rural Transit of Mindanao Inc. (RTMI) in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte last week and the killing of a bus driver of the company in Wao, Lanao del Sur two weeks ago.

“According to the police, the one who threw the grenades was more or less 12 years old who immediately escaped on board a waiting motorcycle,” Cabantan said in an article posted on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines yesterday.

“The police theorized that the attack on the church could be tied to the attacks on the RTMI and that the attackers were just exacting revenge on the Christians for the killing of the Muslim boy by a bus driver,” Cabantan added.

The attack on the church was the first in the history of Kalilangan town, he said.

Cabantan said those who were wounded were sitting on the last pews near the entrance of the church.

He said the attack happened past 8 a.m. yesterday while the parishioners were reciting the “Prayers of the Faithful.”

The other grenade that failed to explode was detonated by Kalilangan policemen who were also in the church, said Cabantan.

The bishop urged the faithful, especially the relatives of the victims, to let law enforcement authorities solve the case. 

“I urge all the faithful in Bukidnon, especially in Kalilangan, to pray and remain calm and not let this isolated incident sow tension and discord among the Christians and Muslims here,” Cabantan said.