MAGUINDANAO – An explosion rocked the town of Maguindanao massacre prime suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr., a few hours before voting started on Monday.
The explosion outside the town hall of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao, according to a police report, might have been caused by a rifle-launched grenade. No one was injured in the explosion.
Police said the incident also did not hamper the conduct of the polls in the eight villages in the town of 11,813.
Maguindanao is the site of worst election-related violence in Philippine history. On Nov. 23, 2009, 58 people were killed in an ambush in Maguindanao province, including 32 media workers.
Tagged as the masterminds of the massacre are the Ampatuans, a political family with a long-running feud with the Mangudadatu family.
The massacre was reportedly carried out to stop then Vice Mayor Mangudadatu from running for the post, held then by Andal Ampatuan Sr.
His son Andal Jr., then mayor of Unsay town, was seeking the same post at that time.
READ: What Went Before: Worst election-related violence in PH history
Maguindanao is a province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), considered as the region with the most number of election hotspots in the country.
Out of 597 of red hotspots in the country where the situation is considered “critical,” 438 are located in the ARMM.
A red classification indicates that an area has a history of election-related violence. It is also an area where armed and rebel groups are present.
READ: Nearly all precincts open in ARMM, region with most election hotspots
Harassment
Meanwhile, in Datu Saudi town, also in Maguindanao, 18 Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) backed out after they were reportedly harassed by supporters of candidates.
The Maguindanao police office immediately deployed policemen to man the affected precincts.
In Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, a barangay captain seeking reelection in the coastal town of Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat was shot dead on Sunday.
Senior Inspector Carl Jayson Baynosa, the police chief of Palimbang, said Mustre Aguib, 51, of Barangay Mina, was driving his motorbike on his way home when gunmen flagged him down and shot him dead.
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