Cops urged to speed up probe in N. Cotabato bombing

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Local officials on Thursday urged the police to expedite the probe on Wednesday’s bombing in Mlang town in west of the province that left a resident dead and injured 35 others.

Police and Army investigators are still clueless on who could have set off the improvised explosive device at one spot in the public market of Mlang, causing the death of a 28-year-old villager, Christine Salo, of Barangay Bialong in the municipality.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, chair of the multi-sectoral provincial peace and order council, condemned the bombing and branded the atrocity a "diabolic act" and contrary to teachings of all religions.

The bombing was the second in Mlang in just four weeks. Still unidentified bombers blasted an IED near a billiard hall in the town center last November 23, killing two bystanders and wounding 22 others.

“Once again, we have witnessed a barbaric by people trying to sabotage our domestic peace and development initiatives intended to improve the lives of the Muslim, Christian and lumad sectors in the province,” the governor said.

Mendoza said the provincial health office, which is under her ministerial control, is now helping provide for the medical needs of the people injured in the latest bombing in Mlang.

The town, home to mixed Muslim and Christian residents, is near the vast Liguasan Delta, a known lair of criminal gangs and terrorists.

The latest bombing came after policemen arrested somewhere in the municipality one of the alleged suspect in the November 23 bombing in the area, which remained unsolved.

Mlang’s municipal mayor, Joselito Piñol, said he is thankful to barangay officials, the local religious leaders and the town’s Muslim and Christian elders for helping facilitate the evacuation to different hospitals of the 35 people injured in Wednesday's IED attack.

Piñol said he will convene anytime soon the inter-agency Mlang peace and order council to discuss possible measures the local government unit can impose to prevent a repeat of the spate of bombings in the municipality.