COTABATO CITY — Four individuals were wounded in a grenade explosion that ripped through the premises of a roadside gasoline station in Lamitan City, Basilan on Tuesday afternoon.
It was the second grenade attack at the same petroleum refill station since last year.
Lamitan City’s police chief, Lt. Col. Elmer P. Solon, and Brig. Gen. Romeo J. Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR), separately confirmed on Wednesday that the incident left Jamil M. Mahmud, Naim L. Tomas, Reyyan S. Gunong and Mut-ab M. Gunong wounded.
They were immediately transported by emergency responders to the Lamitan District Hospital for treatment.
Mr. Solon had reported to the headquarters of PRO-BAR in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte that the victims were at a gasoline station in Barangay Matibay where a grenade, thrown by one of two men riding a motorcycle together, landed and went off.
Local executives and traditional community leaders in Lamitan City are certain that extortionists were behind the attack, meant to compel the owner of the gasoline station to shell out “protection money” in exchange for the safety of the establishment.
Members of the multi-sector Lamitan City Peace and Order Council, led by Mayor Roderick H. Furigay, are helping police investigators identify the perpetrators of the grenade attack for prosecution. — John Felix M. Unson
