Blasts rock Cotabato ahead of Duterte visit
COTABATO CITY – On the eve of President Duterte’s visit on Monday, a series of explosions rocked a major highway here, near the Cotabato cathedral, and in nearby Libungan town of Cotabato province.
Church-run dxMS radio reported that the first explosion occurred past 6 p.m. inside a passenger multicab vehicle along the national highway, in front of the radio sation’s parking space.
A man was seen limping and walking away from the vehicle where the explosion occurred.
The vehicle’s engine was still running, its headlights on.
Three explosions followed the first blast but Lt. Colonel Romeo Galgo, chief of the Police Mobile Group, said those were disruptors to disable suspected improvised bombs near the vehicle.
“We are determining if the IED was in the vehicle or thrown at the vehicle. Our bomb experts are processing the scene,” Galgo said.
Galgo said initial reports from witnesses showed that a series of gun bursts followrd the first blast.
A Sunday evening Holy Mass was going on at the Immaculate Concepcion cathedral when the first blast occurred.
Following the blast, traffic was shut down along the junction of Sinsuat and Quezon avenues where the Cotabato cathedral and dxMS studio are located.
Due to the blast, military and police authorities declared a lockdown in the city, preventing entry and exit of vehicles.
In Libungan, Cotabato, radio reports said at least four persons were rushed to the hospital following a roadside blasts near the Libungan bridge.
The first explosion occurred at about 6:30 p.m. that injured civilians in front of a roadside store. Police cordoned off the site while waiting for scene of the crime operatives.
Another explosion occurred at about 7:11 p.m. while a radio reporter was on site airing a flash report. Nobody was hurt in the second blast.
Pres. Duterte was scheduled to visit Cotabato City Monday.
It was not yet clear if the blasts here and in Libungan, about 40 kilometers away, were related, and whether or not it has something to do with the president’s visit.
