Grenade explodes near Tagbilaran judge’s house

CEBU CITY—Unidentified persons lobbed a grenade outside the house of a judge in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, on Thursday night, according to the police.

No one was hurt but the explosion damaged the right rear tire of a Kia Carnival van that was parked inside the open garage of the house of Judge Fernando Fuentes III in CPG East, Barangay Poblacion I, in Tagbilaran.

The explosion also ripped off the van’s right wheel and punctured a hole in the van’s gas tank, said Insp. Antonio Samante, chief of the Tagbilaran police traffic section.

Fragments of the grenade damaged the roof of the garage and glass window of the ancestral home of Fuentes, presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 49.

Motorcycle riders

Samante said based on the accounts of some witnesses, two men on board a single motorcycle drove by and lobbed a grenade at the parked van about 9 p.m. on Thursday.

He said no one was inside the house at that time because Judge Fuentes was in Manila to hand-carry some documents to the Supreme Court.

Fuentes’ wife and children were in Ozamiz City, running the family business, Samante said.

He said the caretaker of the house is living some 3 kilometers from the judge’s house.

Samante said police wanted to talk to the judge to find out if he had received threats but police were still waiting for Fuentes to return to Tagbilaran.

He added that Fuentes was handling several cases, including those involving illegal drugs.

Target: judges

The attack on the house of Fuentes could be the latest assault on a judge in recent months.

A series of attacks in the past on judges prompted some judges to propose that they be allowed to arm themselves.