Probe ordered on twin attacks in NoCot

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 29, 2021): Probe ordered on twin attacks in NoCot (By John Andrew Tabugoc)

TWIN ATTACKS. Bullet holes pockmarked the bedroom glass window of Antipas, North Cotabato Vice Mayor Cristobal Cadungon following an attack by armed men early Wednesday (April 28, 2021). Policemen (inset) checked on the surroundings of the Carmen town police station after an attack that occurred on Wednesday night. (Photos courtesy of Antipas and Carmen MPS)

The North Cotabato Provincial Police Office (NCPPO) ordered Thursday an investigation on the strafing incident on the house of a town vice mayor and the grenade-throwing incident at a municipal police station.

Col. Henry Villar, North Cotabato provincial police chief, issued the directive following Wednesday’s strafing incident at the house of Antipas Municipal Vice Mayor Cristobal Cadungon and the grenade attack at the Carmen town police station.

“We must get the perpetrators from both attacks,” Villar said in an interview by reporters here Thursday.

A report from the Antipas police station said bonnet-wearing men armed with .45 caliber pistols fired at the house of Cadungon at Barangay Poblacion during a predawn attack Wednesday.

Responding policemen recovered eight empty shells from a .45 caliber pistol just outside the house fence of the vice mayor.

Maj. John Minidel Calinga, Antipas police chief, said a review of the closed-circuit television recordings at Cadungon’s house showed mysterious individuals roaming just outside the official’s compound since last week.

“We are still trying to establish the identities of the perpetrators,” he said. Asked about the attack, Cadungon said he believes that the incident is “politically motivated” but declined to comment further.

Also on Wednesday, a grenade blast rocked the police station of Carmen town at 7 p.m. that stunned the residents.

Maj. Carl Jayson Baynosa, Carmen police chief, said no one was hurt in the incident.

He blamed the attack on lawless groups affected by the series of their anti-criminality operations lately.

“They intend to intimidate our police force but this will serve as a challenge for us to intensify more on our fight against criminality,” Baynosa said in a separate interview Thursday.

He said the Carmen police force has several “persons of interest” who could shed light on the attack against the police station.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1138462