Crime gang tagged in Cotabato blasts

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Another explosion rocked the city on Wednesday evening just outside a military headquarters.

It was the fourth blast in the city since Nov. 14, according to police.

No one was reported hurt in the latest explosion, which damaged the perimeter fence of the 6th Civil Military Battalion (CMB) headquarters.

The military here has been bracing for grenade attacks since September, when two soldiers of the Army’s Special Forces Battalion manning a detachment at the heart of the city were killed by rifle grenade attack.

The grenade attacks had also left four persons, including two soldiers, wounded, according to Senior Supt. Raul Supiter, Cotabato City police director.

Seeking revenge

Supiter said the blast at the CMB headquarters is believed to have been fired by motorcycle riding men.

“We are following up a lead,” he said.

The CMB headquarters is along Veterans Avenue, which serves as a detour route for motorists from the downtown area to Mabini Street.

Col. Ranulfo Sevilla, 5th Special Forces Battalion commander, who lost two men in previous rifle grenade attacks, blamed a crime syndicate that is seeking revenge against the military.

He identified a leader of the syndicate as Ruben Montes, who lost three followers, including his wife, in a clash with Special Forces operatives on SK Pendatun Avenue.

Montes had been arrested for illegal gun possession and was charged but was freed on Nov. 13 after a court ordered his release.

 Attacks

Just a day after his release, Sevilla said Montes and his men fired a rifle grenade at the Cotabato Light and Power Co., triggering city-wide brownout. It was followed by a rifle grenade attack on an Army vehicle that injured two soldiers and two civilians.

The following day, a hand grenade was lobbed but did not explode in front of a bingo center along Sinsuat Avenue.

“We believe all these are the work of Montes because he is capable, he has an ax to grind against the SF (Special Forces) and is protected by a local official,” Sevilla told reporters without naming the official. Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao