COTABATO City, Philippines—Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Toto Mangudadatu narrowly survived a roadside bomb attack that killed one person and injured seven others, including a provincial board member, while they were on their way to a resort to celebrate the governor’s 43rd birthday in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat.
“The very powerful bomb was intended for me,” Mangudadatu, who was riding in his bullet proof van, said minutes after the blast that occurred along the Tacurong City-Koronadal highway.
The explosion occurred in front of the Cherubin Methodist Learning Center along National Highway, Alunan Avenue, and was about 100 meters from the Tacurong Fitmart. The bomb went off while the convoy of Mangudadatu was passing by.
One was confirmed dead and seven others were rushed to the hospital. A leg and other body parts of one of the wounded were left inside a mangled Toyota Fortuner with plate number LGU 933 and owned by Datu Russman Sinsuat.
Police Regional Director Chief Superintendent Benharde Mantele identified the fatality as Raffy Parenas of Purok 9, Tacurong.
The seven wounded were Bebot Barabarang, Datu Rusman Sinsuat Sr., Datu Rusman Sinsuat Jr., Noble Abdullah, Mabang Antonio Algaba, Richard Sonza and Robert Formacion.
“I was on my way to Genalyn Resort with other Maguindanao local officials to celebrate my birthday when the explosion happened,” Mangudadatu said, adding that he would no longer push through with the celebration scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday.
“The blast was so powerful and I saw one of the cars in my convoy going up in flames,” Mangudadatu told ABS-CBN television network.
The bomb consisted of a 105 mm howitzer round and was remotely detonated in a parked white car, the military said.
Among the victims were a Maguindanao provincial board member and his son, whose foot was severed by the blast. They were riding in the convoy’s third car, which absorbed the main impact of the bomb.
Mangudadatu said that as the convoy was moving fast, a parked white KIA Avella car (MDJ-274) suddenly exploded, hitting the black Toyota Fortuner of Maguindanao first district board member Russman Sinsuat, who was among the wounded. The car was owned by Maureen Macasindil of Maa, Davao City, said Mantele.
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Mangudadatu escaped unhurt.
“I condemn this attack, innocent civilians were hurt,” the governor said.
Sultan Kudarat and nearby Maguindanao, about 590 miles (950 kilometers) southeast of Manila, are in a violent region that teems with Muslim guerrillas and warlord clans with private armies.—With a report from Associated Press