8 wounded in Cagayan de Oro explosion Police see no link to pyramid scam

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – At least eight people, including a police officer, were wounded in a grenade explosion yesterday morning in front of a lending firm here.

Chief Superintendent Gil Hitosis, regional police director, said they could not link the explosion to the pyramid scam since they have not yet talked to the owner of the lending firm, Golden Sun Finance Corp.

Besides, Hitosis said Golden Sun is a lending firm, making it unlikely for the company to be involved in the pyramid scam, which has victimized thousands of ordinary folk in parts of Mindanao.

Police identified those wounded as SPO3 Rogelio Mendiola, Danny Ragrag, retired police officer Rodolfo Gebutad, Fernando Biernes, Pritchie Pios, Evangelita Salamanca, Argie Palma, and Roderick Cabihin.

Cabihin, whose head was hit by shrapnel, was still in critical condition, police said.

The military-issued MK2 grenade, according to the police, was booby-trapped, its pin attached to a string, Nayle and went off at around 8:10 a.m. yesterday in front of the Golden Sun office along C.M. Recto Avenue in Barangay Lapasan here.

The blast site was just near the regional police headquarters.

Rene Quisaba, who was guarding an appliance store fronting the Golden Sun office, had just logged in for duty when he heard an explosion.

When he stepped outside, Quisaba said he saw people sprawled on the ground outside the Golden Sun office.

“I saw a woman with her back on the wall with blood splattered all over her,” Quisaba told this reporter.

Hitosis said the grenade was probably rigged on the firm’s accordion-type door the night before.

Hitosis suspects that a disagreement between the lending company and one of its customers could have something to do with the grenade blast.