Bomb blast rocks school; cops link case to OICs

COTABATO CITY—A bomb exploded on Monday and another was found on the venue of a fashion show inside the compound of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao here, according to police.

No one was hurt in the explosion. The discovery of the second bomb created a commotion at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Center, where a fashion show featuring Moro creations was being held.

Supt. Danny Reyes, city police chief, said the bomb exploded at  Sero Elementary School on Sinsuat Avenue past 8 p.m., about the same time when the second bomb was found at the cultural center about a kilometer from where the first bomb went off.

Bomb experts defused the second bomb, which was found under an airconditioning unit of the cultural center.

Col. Dorotheo Jose Jalandoni, commander of the 7th Marine Battalion Landing Team, said the second bomb was made of an 81-mm mortar shell with a mobile phone as a trigger mechanism. Jalandoni said the suspects who planted the bomb apparently failed to detonate it on time.

Reyes said police suspect the explosion and bomb find could be related to celebrations in connection with the appointment of officers in charge in the ARMM.

President Aquino on Monday swore into office former party-list Rep. Mujiv Hataman as OIC governor of ARMM and several other OIC officials of the impoverished but resource-rich region.

“We are looking at all the angles,” said Reyes.

Hataman has been appointed amid a pending case in the Supreme Court, which recently issued a temporary restraining order that would have stopped the postponement of the elections if the decision had come on time. The TRO also prevented Malacañang from appointing OICs.

Malacañang has filed a motion for reconsideration of the Supreme Court ruling, which is still pending.

Hataman was picked from a list prepared by a Palace screening committee that included other powerful ARMM politicians.