MANILA, Philippines – Two people were injured after a grenade was thrown at a voters’ registration center in Maguindanao on Monday, the military said.
Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesman of the 6th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said one of two men on board a motorcycle threw an MK-2 grenade at the Barangay Timbangan Multipurpose Hall in Shariff Aguak town where a voters’ registration by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was ongoing.
The injured victims were Pamela Pangila, 27, and her daughter Agatha Lee, 6.
An explosion was also reported at a corn field in nearby Barangay Labu-labu, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan town.
The military recovered fragments from a 40 mm round grenade at the site of explosion.
The explosion occurred near Barangay Labu-labu Mother Elementary School where a registration was also being held.
A general voters’ registration is ongoing for the entire Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, in an effort by the Comelec and concerned civil society groups to cleanse off the region’s voters’ list, which is believed to be fraught with voters who are underaged, registered in multiple areas, or already dead.
The automated registration started last July 9 and will run until tomorrow, July 18. – report from Edwin Sevidal, dzMM