Mayor hurt in bomb blast asks for more police protection

SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines - The town mayor of Lebak has asked for police protection due to eminent threats on his life following Monday’s bombing that injured him and one of his police escorts.

Injured Mayor Dionisio Besana and his security aide, Police Officer 2 Van Anthony Vecilles, were still confined in a hospital on Tuesday morning.

Senior Inspector Joel Martinez, chief of the Lebak municipal police, said they were still clueless on the identity of the bomber who parked a bomb-laden motorcycle beside the Toyota pick-up truck of Besana at the premises of the town hall.

Police said that the bomb, fashioned from a live 60MM mortar round and placed inside a utility box underneath the seat of the motorcycle, was set off from a distance with a mobile phone.

The bomb went off while Besana and his escorts were about to board the pick-up truck. The mayor's group was supposed to proceed to an engagement in a barangay far from the town hall.

Members of the Lebak municipal peace and order council said Besana had asked the police and the military to tighten security in the surroundings of the local government compound following the attack.

Intelligence operatives of the First Marine Brigade based in Lebak are now helping the local police investigate the incident.

Police investigators said employees of the Lebak local government unit saw a tall man, wearing black trousers and a dark colored shirt, drove and parked the bomb-laden motorcycle near the mayor's service vehicle.