Grenade explodes at LTO-6 chief's house

ILOILO CITY, Philippines - After the discovery of explosives inside a coal power plant, came a grenade explosion in this city early morning yesterday.

A grenade was hurled and exploded at the century-old ancestral house of Land Transportation Office regional director Gerard Camiña at Osmeña St., in Brgy. Sta. Filomena, Arevalo district.

Camiña was in Metro Manila when the incident happened, but his wife Luth said she was about to go to the comfort room at 3:45 a.m. when she heard a loud sound of an approaching motorcycle.

Shortly later, there was an explosion. "She initially thought that it was just a pillbox," Senior Supt. Marietto Valerio, Sr., city police director, quoted her as saying.

Post-blast investigation by the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) Explosives Ordnance Division showed that the explosive used was an MK2 hand grenade. It caused minor damage on the gate and window of Camiña's house.

The family's blue guard also failed to respond. "He reported late for work. That's why, he failed to get his issued firearm - a 12-gauge shotgun - stored at a room in the house," Valerio said.

The city police was informed about the blast only at around 5:30 p.m. Valerio said he immediately talked to Luth and, over the phone, to Camiña himself, who said he has no known enemy.

Shortly before their telephone conversation, Camiña said he also received a text message from mobile phone number 09105319269 stating in Hiligaynon: "Camiña, the next explosion would directly hit you or your abusive operatives. Just continue your baklas-plaka because your blood will spill on the road. Thank you."

This text message confirmed Camiña's suspicion that the explosion was work-related, recalling LTO's arrest of more than a thousand violators of traffic laws.

Camiña said that when they went to Aklan province, several militant groups held a protest rally against LTO. He however insisted LTO has not gone overboard to earn the ire of militant groups except that they just implemented several LTO directives.

Valerio said his men are conducting a thorough investigation on the incident, and investigators could not expound yet on why a normal implementation of LTO rules and regulations could warrant some individuals to threaten Camiña and his family.

Valerio is not also discounting the possibility that the text message sent to Camiña was meant to mislead police in their investigation.

The Camiña couple insisted that it could not have something to do with their business because "wala naman daw silang inaapi o inagrabiyadong tao nila," Valerio said. – THE FREEMAN