Pikit cops dig deeper in UCCP Church blast, see few likely angles

KIDAPAWAN CITY – Authorities are working on a personal grudge as most likely the
motive behind the latest blast in Pikit town in North Cotabato that left
two people dead and three others wounded. Senior Inspector Sunny Leoncito, head investigator of the Cotabato
Police Provincial Office (CPPO), said the 40 mm grenade projectile fired from a distance could be directed against Felomina Ferolin, chief
nurse of the Municipal Health Unit of Pagalungan, Maguindanao. Leoncito, citing results of initial probe, said the attack against
Ferolin. Leoncito refused to elaborate as probe was still going on. Leoncito said that of the blast victims, Ferolin suffered severe
injuries, which led to her death, minutes after she was sent to a
hospital nearby. Also, authorities are looking at possible angle that the blast could be
directed against two of the victims, Jeremias Dandan and Jerome Dandan –
both relatives of a former police officer of Pikit. Relatives of Ferolin and Dandan have kept mum about the issue, he said. These angles, however, are just among the many issues being studied by
his team and other units tasked to investigate the case. It’s just
that the personal grudge as motive is nearest to truth,” he said. When asked if the Wednesday's blast was the handiwork of the Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) as part of its terror plot, Leoncito
said, We don’t see any BIFF connection.” On Wednesday, around 715 p.m., Ferolin, together with other UCCP members,
were having a prayer meeting when the grenade projectile landed inside the church. Grenade shrapnels hit Ferolin and so were the rest of the blast victims. Aside from Ferolin, another churchgoer identified as Gina Cabiluna expired while being treated at a hospital here. Witnesses told police they saw two men riding on a motorcycle without license plate fired the projectile.