An Armored Personnel Carrier of the Philippine Marines parked in front of the police station in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, following the twin grenade attacks on May 13, 2019. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO from Salave Dinas)
COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Another grenade blast rocked the town of Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao about an hour after voting started today, police said.
The second grenade blast occurred at 7:10 am at the back of Datu Odin Sinsuat municipal hall in Barangay Dalican.
It came about six hours after the first explosion at 1 am, also near the town hall.
“Like the first blast, nobody was hurt in the second explosion,” Police Lt. Colonel Sabri Lakibul, town police chief, said.
The elections around town continued uninterrupted despite the two explosions clearly aimed at sowing fear.
“Additional security forces from Philippine Marines with K9 bomb-sniffing dogs are now deployed in the area to protect the voters and everyone,” Lakibul said.
Brig. Gen. Graciano Mijares, police director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), said that despite the bombings,the first hours of elections were orderly and peaceful.