VCM torching, explosion mar Zamboanga del Sur town

Photo shows the blast site in Barangay Poblacion in San Pablo, Zamboanga del Sur. (Photo from San Pablo Municipal Police Station)

MANILA, Philippines — An explosion rocked a vacant lot near the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) office in the municipality of San Pablo, followed by the torching of a vote counting machine at San Pablo Central Elementary School in Zamboanga Del Sur.

According to a report from the San Pablo Municipal Police on Thursday, the explosion was reported in Purok Maloloy-on, Barangay Poblacion at around 11:10 p.m. on Wednesday.

Local police said the loud explosion was heard in the headquarters, just located near the site of the bombing.

Police said the explosion was immediately followed by the torching of defective VCMs stored inside a room at the said school in the town.

Personnel of the San Pablo Fire Station responded to the incident and put out the fire at around 11:20 p.m.

A VCM was destroyed by the fire while seven others remained intact after being immediately secured by fire authorities, according to police.

Initial investigation of BFP personnel showed the fire was deliberately set up using a gasoline, while the explosion was from an M67 fragmentation grenade, based on the report of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team of the police.

No one was hurt from the two incidents.

“Investigation is ongoing to determine [the] perpetrators and as to [identify the] relation between the two incidents,” Brigadier General Emmanuel Licup, director of Zamboanga Peninsula police, told INQUIRER.net in a text message. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)

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