Bombs, grenades found in Lanao Norte town as poll gun ban starts

LINAMON, LANAO DEL NORTE—Police recovered two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and four grenades in the hinterland village of Bowi in Pantar town of Lanao del Norte province, only hours after the election gun ban took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, the first day for the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in October.

Police Col. Sandy Vales, police provincial director, said the seized pipe bombs, the grenades and their accessories were left inside a house in the village near the boundary of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte but their owners were nowhere to be found.

Also found were two 9-volt, two 1.5-volt, three 12-volt batteries, two analog alarm clocks and one handheld radio.

He did not disclose who owned the IEDs but said they had already turned over the seized explosives to the Police Explosive Ordnance and Disposal Unit in Kolambugan town of Lanao del Norte.

Vales said that the provincial police, along with the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army already implemented the election gun ban as of 7 a.m. on Monday by setting up simultaneous checkpoints in Iligan and Marawi cities, as candidates filed their COCs at the designated Commission on Election offices.

This developed as Lt. Col. Terence Ylanan, battalion commander of the 53rd Infantry Battalion, headquartered in Camp Major David P. Sabido in Guipos, Zamboanga del Sur, urged people in Saad village, Dumingag town of Zamboanga del Sur to not to choose candidates sympathetic to the communist rebels during the upcoming barangay and SK elections.

Ylanan said they were still running after six alleged New Peoples’ Army (NPA) members, who were remnants of the NPA’s Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee. They were identified as alias Krismae from Dumingag town and alias Jundi from San Miguel town, both in Zamboanga del Sur; alias Jack, Sabel and Jimboy from Zamboanga del Norte; and a certain leader named Bambam from the Davao region.

Located along the boundary of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte provinces, Saad village, where the military was preparing to hold a medical mission, used to be difficult to reach from the town center.

In July 2020, a village road funded by the local government was built to connect the once isolated area to town as the government’s campaign against communist rebels intensified.

—Reports from RICHEL UMEL AND LEAH AGONOY INQ