KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato, Philippines – The North Cotabato provincial government and the municipal government of Kabacan have jointly put up a P100,000 reward for those who can help identify and arrest the perpetrators of the series of grenade attacks there.
On Sunday night, a grenade exploded at the parking area of a gasoline station in Barangay Poblacion in Kabacan.
No one was hurt in the attack, but it sent residents into panic.
On Saturday evening, five people, including two children, were also hurt when a fragmentation grenade exploded at the corner of the busy Rizal and Malvar Streets.
On Thursday afternoon, a four-year-old girl was hurt when men riding on a motorcycle tossed a grenade near a police outpost along the national highway.
Mayor Herlo Guzman, during Monday’s meeting of the municipal peace and order council, announced that the municipal government was offering P50,000 to help police fast track the identification and arrest of suspects.
Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza also announced she would give another P50,000 to potential informants.
“This is to encourage those knowledgeable to come into the open to help and to bring suspects to jail,” Guzman said.
Asked what could have been the motives of the attacks, Guzman said it could be an effort to paint the town, host to one of the country’s largest state-run universities in terms of area and student population – as an unsafe place.
He said it was more likely political in nature and the aim was to discredit his leadership.
Guzman is seeking reelection.
Senior Supt. Alexander Tagum, North Cotabato police director, also echoed Guzman’s theory, saying the attacks could be politically motivated.
But Tagum clarified that they were still verifying this theory and that they still had no specific suspect in mind.
He said the police also believed that all suspects in the grenade attacks belong to a single group as they used the same type of fragmentation grenades.
Tagum said to beef up the town’s security, the police were suggesting the revival of the Task Force Kabacan to be manned by policemen and soldiers.
Tagum also said the police would increase visibility and frequency of patrols to thwart similar attacks in the future. SFM