COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Violence preceded the conduct here Monday of the plebiscite for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Two men on a motorcycle threw a fragmentation grenade inside the residential yard here of Judge Angelito Rasalan of the Municipal Trial Court in nearby Upi town in Maguindanao on Sunday night, causing panic in the neighborhood.
Rasalan, a city resident who is against ratification of the BOL, is brother of Anecito Rasalan, secretary of Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi. Guiani-Sayadi is vocal in her opposition to BOL.
PNP: Blast likely not related to plebiscite
But the police are looking into personal motives in the blast.
In a press briefing Monday morning, Police Director General Oscar Albayalde said that "seemingly, it was about something personal with the judge."
He said investigators believe someone may be trying to intimidate the judge.
"It has nothing to do with the ongoing plebiscite there," Albayalde said, noting the two grenades were thrown into the judge's compound and not outside, where it would have caused more panic.
Albayalde said he sees no need to deploy more police officers in response to the blast, saying there are more than 20,000 police and military officials to secure polling. "I think we have enough forces there," he said, adding most officers will be in the field.
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If ratified, the BOL, or Republic Act 11054, shall pave the way for the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM.
Cotabato City is the present administrative seat of the now 29-year-old ARMM, which also as a regional charter, Republic Act 9054, also ratified via a plebiscite.
Gun attack on house of BTC member
The grenade incident that rocked the city Sunday night preceded a gun attack on the house of lawyer Omar Sema, a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission that drafted the BOL.
Sema is son of former Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, who belongs to one of two factions in the Moro National Liberation Front and who is a staunch endorser of the BOL.
Gunmen on motorcycles reportedly parked near the house of the younger Sema and opened fire.
No one was hurt in the shooting incident.
Police bomb disposal experts also deactivated on Monday morning a booby trap made up of a fragmentation grenade found along a road leading to the campus here of the Rojas Elemetary School, which has polling centers.
The school campus was opened to voters after ordnance disposal experts neutralized the bomb.