Bombs, explosive items recovered in Bukidnon

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY–Authorities on Thursday said they have recovered a cache of bombs and other explosive materials in Barangay Lumbo in Valencia City in Bukidnon province.

Superintendent Lemuel Gonda, Northern Mindanao police spokesperson, said personnel from the Bukidnon Provincial Mobile Force Company responded to a call by residents regarding the presence of two persons in Purok 5 early Thursday.

Gonda said when the responding police officers arrived at the village, the two persons fled but left behind several sacks full of various explosives and bomb-making components.

He said the police believed the items found belonged to the New People’s Army (NPA) operating in Bukidnon and nearby areas.

Among the items recovered were 21 improvised hand grenades, five pieces improvised anti-personnel clamor mines, three PVC pipes; 52-meter long electrical wire; three kilograms of soluble fertilizer; 200 grams of sulfur; a kilogram of ANFO (ammonium nitrite, fuel oil), four pieces dynamite; 60 pieces improvised electric blasting caps; 240 kilograms steel cut fragments (round bars); and 370-meter safety fuse.

Gonda said the recovery of the explosives came as the alert level in Northern Mindanao, especially the region’s major urban areas such as Valencia City, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, remained high due to possible attacks by insurgents and terrorists./lb