Bomb blast mars wedding of Maguindanao gov’s son

COTABATO CITY — A bomb blast marred yesterday’s traditional Muslim wedding here of a son of Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan and a daughter of an equally influential datu in the province. Three soldiers were seriously wounded.

The bomb, fashioned from incendiary chemicals mixed with nails, was left under an ornamental shrub at the gates of the Shariff Kabungsuwan Cultural Complex here, the venue of the wedding rites, not far away from the spot where the vehicle of the groom, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, was to park.

Three soldiers — M/Sgt. Noel Bello, Sgt. Joeny Gaya-gaya and Pfc. Raymond Jocson — sustained shrapnel wounds. They were positioned less than five meters away from where the bomb went off.

The explosion occurred just after the first group of the bride’s entourage arrived.

Senior Superintendent Sangacala Dampac, city police chief, said investigators were still determining who could be behind the blast.

But the Ampatuan clan, known for their hardline stand in dealing with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was quick to blame the MILF for the incident.

Last year, suspected MILF guerrillas ambushed Gov. Ampatuan thrice. His relative, Datu Zamzamin Ampatuan, now the administrator of the Southern Philippines Development Authority, also survived two recent slay attempts, allegedly by the MILF, which left one of his security escorts dead and a dozen others, including himself, wounded.

The Shariff Kabungsuwan Cultural Complex is located inside the 32-hectare compound of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, about 15 meters away from the office of ARMM Gov. Parouk Hussin.

Despite the panic triggered by the blast, the wedding of the younger Ampatuan to Bai Ingrid Sinsuat, youngest daughter of Datu Puti Sinsuat, former mayor of Upi, Maguindanao, pushed through, albeit delayed.

Meanwhile, six civilians were seriously wounded in a grenade blast in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat the other night, an attack probers blamed on extortionists preying on hapless farming villages in the town.