Another Maguindanao school bombed

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Another elementary school in Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao was bombed Thursday night by still unidentified persons—believed to be the same gunmen who strafed and bombed six elementary schools there last Wednesday, police said.

READ: 6 Maguindanao schools bombed

Senior Inspector Wendylyn Banico, chief of the Sultan Mastura municipal police, said the seventh rifle grenade attack occurred at Tambo Elementary School around 10 p.m.  Nobody was hurt in the attack.

Colonel Earl Badiao, commander of the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade, said he has ordered the deployment of more troops as peacekeepers to ensure that the elections in the town would push through.

Despite the incidents, Kurais Dali, Sultan Mastura election officer, said the town has not been placed under Comelec control. “Not all schools buildings were bombed, there are still other schools that can be used on election day,” she said.

READ: 6 Maguindanao poll precincts bombed

Citing intelligence information, Senior Inspector Ronald de Leon, the spokesperson of the police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PNP-ARMM), said that an armed group wanted the town to be placed under Comelec control so that voting precincts will be clustered, which was why it launched the attacks.

He did not provide additional details.

Four candidates were aspiring to become mayor of the town of 9,000 voters, he said.

De Leon said the investigation on the matter was continuing. RAM