Military joins probe to identify North Cotabato church bombers

NORTH COTABATO - The local police and the Army’s 602nd Brigade fused ranks on Thursday to hasten the efforts of identifying the culprits behind the deadly bombing of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) chapel in Pikit town on Wednesday night.

Major Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said intelligence operatives of the 602nd Brigade and its component units, the 7th and 40th infantry battalions, have been directed to help police investigators gather information that could lead to the identities of the bombers.

“We can help through intelligence initiatives in support of the investigation of the police,” Pangilinan told Oblate Media via text message.

He said he had tasked the commanding officer of the 602nd Brigade, Col. Alan Arrojado, to mobilize all Army intelligence units in North Cotabato and help the police.

Two worshipers identified as Felomina Nacario-Ferolin and Gina Cabiluna, both residents of Pikit, were killed and three others were injured in the bombing.

The 40-millimeter shoulder-fire grenade projectile used in the attack, fired from a distance through the entrance door of the worship site, landed and went off near a row of seats occupied by churchgoers performing midweek prayer rites.

Ferolin, 54, was chief nurse in the municipal health office in Maguindanao’s Pagalungan town, about three kilometers northeast of Pikit, while the 39-year-old Cabiluna was a teacher in a local government school.

The injured Jeremias, 60, and Gerome, 28, both surnamed Dandan, and Virgie Manulid, 63, who sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of their bodies, are now undergoing medication in different hospitals.