Grenade attack on a Catholic chapel in Cotabato City injures 2 persons

CHAPEL BLAST. Monobloc chairs were destroyed after a grenade exploded inside a Santo Niño chapel in Cotabato City on Sunday, May 19, 2024, while a Bible service was going on. Two people were hurt. No one has claimed responsibility yet for the attack even as the Cotabato police launched a manhunt for the perpetrators. (Photo by DXOL-FM)

COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao del Norte, Philippines — Two unidentified men lobbed a hand grenade into a Catholic chapel in Barangay Rosary Heights 3 here at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday while a Bible service was ongoing.

The blast left two churchgoers injured, a village official said.

Kagi Omar Pasawilan, chairperson of Barangay Rosary Heights 3, said residents Maribel Abis, 46, and Aniceta Tobil, a senior citizen, were hurt after two men on a motorcycle passed by the Santo Niño Chapel, tossed the grenade and sped away.

This account was given by a village watchman who saw the incident.

Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao condemned the attack.

He said the city government would provide reward money to anyone who could give the police any information that would lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.

The Cotabato Immaculate Conception Cathedral said in a statement there was no holy mass but a lay minister was presiding over a Bible service when the grenade attack occurred.

Colonel Querubin Manalang Jr., the Cotabato city police director, said the two victims sustained minor injuries and are now recuperating in different hospitals here.

“There were at least 20 people who attended the fellowship when motorcycle-riding suspects threw the grenade at the chapel,” Manalang told the Inquirer.

The City Explosive Canine Unit (Cecu) initially said an M-26 hand grenade was used by the assailants based on the safety lever recovered from the site.

CHAPEL BLAST. Monobloc chairs destroyed after a grenade exploded inside a Santo Niño chapel in Cotabato City on Sunday, May 19, 2024 while a Bible service was on going. Two people were hurt. No one has claimed responsibility yet of the attack even as the Cotabato police launched a manhunt for the perpetrators. Photo by DXOL-FM

Police are collecting the closed circuit television footage near the chapel as part of the investigation.

“Let’s all fight violence and terrorism. (The attack was an) outright disrespect to the Roman Catholic Church and its believers,” Matabalao said.

The attack in Cotabato City came more than five months after the December 3, 2023 attack of a gymnasium inside the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City.

Local terrorists had set off an improvised bomb while a holy mass was going ongoing, killing four churchgoers, most of them students.