By Jennifer P. Rendon
No one was hurt after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in Barangay Canawili, Janiuay, Iloilo.
The incident happened around 9:10 a.m. Wednesday, as personnel of the PNP Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6 (RFMB-6) were conducting clearing operation and road security for the groundbreaking ceremony of an agro-forestry support facility located at Barangay Panuran, Janiuay, Iloilo.
The projected is supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The police troops from RFMB’s 603rd Company were on their way to Barangay Agcarope, Janiuay when the blast occurred.
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. was supposed to attend the event but decided against it, as he just arrived from Manila.
The groundbreaking rites pushed through with officials from the DENR attending the event.
Colonel Gilbert Gorero, Iloilo police chief, said the DENR vehicle already passed through the area where the IED was placed.
They stopped after noticing smoke billowing from the blast site which was followed by an explosion.
“Our explosive ordnance team referred to it as premature explosion. The IED was detonated a little later. The shrapnel were also intact that it didn’t hit or hurt anyone or the vehicle,” Gorero said.
After the incident, residents claimed seeing two persons running away from the area.
“The explosion was somehow similar to what happened in Tubungan town on December 17,” Gorero said.
He was referring to an IED explosion allegedly perpetrated by suspected New People’s Army (NPA) at Barangay Balicua, Tubungan.
Police reports indicated that Lieutenant Jose Romel Samson, Tubungan police chief, and his team were conducting mobile patrol on board the police patrol car when an IED exploded as they were passing through Barangay Balicua, some 2.5 kilometers from the towy proper, around 2:45 p.m. on December 17, 2020.
The IED was planted far from the vehicle’s route that the explosion only broke the window on the driver side and left scratches and holes on the left portion of the patrol.
The patrol car sped off and all the officers reached their station unscathed.
“We are now coming up with cartographic sketches to determine if those two persons in Tubungan are also involved in Janiuay,” Gorero said.
Gorero said investigation is still going on but he did not discount the possibility that it could be the handiwork of the NPA.
