Grenade hurled at house of Pangasinan town mayor

BUGALLON, Pangasinan, Philippines – A grenade was hurled at the residence of this town’s mayor early yesterday morning in what local Liberal Party (LP) stalwarts described as a “deplorable act” that police must look into.

No one was reported hurt in the blast which police said merely damaged the front door, including the gutter wall, in the house of Mayor Rodrigo Orduña in the town proper.

Police said the grenade was lobbed at 1:35 a.m. yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Marlou Chan, acting provincial police director, said they were still investigating the incident and could not comment yet on the possible motive behind it.

Chan said they now have to secure the family of Orduña who is running for vice mayor in the May 13 polls. The mayor still refused to be interviewed on the grenade blast.

Orduña, a self-confessed jueteng operator, hogged the headlines when he filed a plunder case at the Office of Ombudsman against re-electionist Gov. Amado Espino Jr. for allegedly receiving about P900 million in jueteng payola.

Espino has denied the allegations. He and Orduña used to be long-time political allies until the mayor joined LP.

In a statement, the provincial LP chapter condemned the grenade attack on Orduña’s house and called on police to intensify their operations against private armies and other lawless elements who may be employed by politicians to sow terror on their rivals.

“We are asking the authorities to investigate this deplorable act and arrest whoever is behind the attack,” said former vice governor Oscar Lambino, spokesman and vice chairman of the local LP.

Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza, the LP’s gubernatorial candidate, called on the police to beef up security for Orduña and increase police visibility in Bugallon and other election hotspots in the province.

Bugallon is listed as one of the 14 priority areas of concern in the May 13 polls due to intense political rivalry.

“We acknowledge the gains made by the Pangasinan police in curbing crime incidents, but our law enforcers should be on the lookout for lawless elements out to sabotage preparations for the May elections,” Braganza said.

“The attack on Mayor Orduña deals a serious blow to efforts to ensure safe and fair elections in Pangasinan. Our law enforcement agencies should conduct more checkpoints and increase police visibility to prevent the outbreak of election violence,” he said.

Espino, for his part, also asked the police to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the grenade blast.

Espino said Pangasinan has been known as a peaceful province with little track record of political violence for decades now.

An independent and non-partisan probe of the grenade blast would be the first decisive step to keep it that way, he said. 

“I don’t want anybody to stage-manage violent acts that make it appear that politics has anything to do with crimes in my province,” he said. – With Cesar Ramirez