Image from the Philippine National Police- Six school buildings bombed in Maguindanao
- Unidentified armed men fired 40-millimeter grenade projectiles and anti-tank rockets to the school buildings
- Investigators said the bombings may be election-related
Unidentified armed men launched simultaneous bomb attacks on six school buildings in different barangays in Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao early Wednesday morning, April 27.
The schools will be used by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as voting centers in the upcoming May 9 elections.
As mentioned in John Unson’s article for Philstar, Sultan Mastura municipal police Senior Inspector Wendylyn Banico said the bombings could be related to the upcoming elections, although he said Sultan Mastura was not included in the Comelec, Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines’ identified areas of immediate concern in Maguindanao.
Based on the shrapnel recovered from the blast sites, Sr. Insp. Banico said the armed men appeared to have used 40-millimeter grenade projectiles and anti-tank rockets.
Investigators also found bullet holes on the concrete walls of the schools they believed were caused by M-16 Armalite rifles.
The damaged schools are Tapayan Central School, the Dagurungan Elementary School, the Tuka Elementary School, the Darping Elementary School, the Tareken Primary School and the Simuay Seashore Elementary School, all located southwest of Sultan Mastura.
“We are still investigating as to the real motive, we can only surmise at this time that it could be election-related,” Banico told reporters.
Meanwhile, a Comelec official said the poll body en banc will decide where to transfer the clustered polling precincts assigned to the affected schools.
Comelec Commissioner Sheriff Abas said the incident may fall as an exemption on a ban to move polling precincts 45 days before election day.
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