Four hurt in Lumbia grenade attack

By LITO RULONA
and NITZ ARANCON
Correspondents

FOUR people were hurt in a grenade attack carried out in Sitio Cabula in Barangay Lumbia, this city, at around 8 pm on Tuesday.

At least three men, still unidentified, are believed to be responsible for the grenade explosion, police said.

City police director Senior Supt. Ronnie Francis Cariaga identified the victims as Julius Javier and his common law wife Zaibee Villarin, teenager Ronald Fabria and a six-year-old girl.

The victims were rushed to the city hall-owned JR Borja Memorial General Hospital in Carmen.

Police said Javier and Villarin own a store which is believed to be the target of the grenade attack.

Investigators found grenade fragments and a safety lever at the crime scene..

Police said it was not the first attack on the store. Before Christmas day, it was stoned, and then a still unidentified group threw a Molotov bomb at it but the incidents were not immediately reported to the police.

Cariaga said the attacks were most likely a result of business rivalry, pointing out that the store was into “bote-bote” or the illegal retail of gasoline.

“Duna gyu’y motibo ani nga lahi. This might be due to old grudges. Simple lang sila nga pamilya unya sila ang gitumbok sa ingon ani nga attack,” Cariaga said.

Villarin narrated that she saw three men on a motorcycle near her store, and she had thought they would buy fuel. To her shock, she said, one of the men lobbed the grenade near the store.

“Naa akong bana sa gawas nagdula sa akong anak mao nga pagkakita nako nga granada misinggit ko og pagka-taud taud miboto. Dali-dali nga gigakukos sa akong bana among anak mao nga daghan siya og igo sa iyang likod,” Villarin said.

The other victim, a teenager, was merely buying a beverage at the store when the grenade went off. He suffered splinter wounds on his face and right leg.

Investigators said the attackers rode an black and violet STX motorcycle, and they sped off towards the directions of the Talakag area in Bukidnon after the incident.

Javier, for his part, said he could not identify any of the suspects. “Ngitngit man gud sa gawas sa dalan mao  nga wala nako makita ilang dagway. Pero nagsakay sila sa motor padulong sa Talakag.”

Barangay Lumbia chairman Wilhelm Valencia said he was closely coordinating with the police in the hope of identifying suspects.

“Ako nagtuo nga kadtong milabay sa granada mga sinugo lamang kadto,” he said.