Another school bombed in Maguindanao

SULTAN
KUDARAT, Maguindanao – Unidentified gunmen bombed another school in
Maguindanao Wednesday night, the eight school to be used as polling precincts
on Monday subjected to grenade attacks since last week, police said.

The bombing
has sent fears among teachers who will be serving as Board of Election Inspectors
(BEIS) for the national and local elections.

There was
heavy downpour on Wednesday night and the suspect carried out the rifle grenade
attacks in Sandakalan Day Care Center in Barangay Dalumangcob,” Madin told
reporters.

He said the
Day Care center was one of the schools to be used as voting center for the national
and local elections.

Nobody was
hurt in the attack and the residents hardly noticed the explosions due to heavy
downpour.

Sultan Kudarat
is next to Sultan Mastura town, also in Maguindanao, where seven schools were
simultaneously attacked last week. The school
sustained damages, broken glass, school chairs, ceiling and roofs were also
destroyed.

There could
be other motives but most likely it was election related,” Madin said in
Filipino.

We believed the
attackers wanted to instil fear among BEIs and to show that the same can happen
on Monday,” he added.

Madin said
Sultan Kudarat has a huge voting population.

As in previous
bombings in nearby Sultan Mastura town, no one has claimed responsibility for Wednesday
night’s attack.

The school’s
windows and glass panes were shattered, concrete pavements were broken, debris
litter inside and outside the school, one of the identified polling precinct on
Monday’s balloting.

Investigation
showed the attackers have positioned at the back of Sandakalan school were they
launched the attacks based on footprints found in the area.

Many teachers
have expressed doubts they would serve on Monday. One of them was Rosalaine Cabales, a grade teacher
of Sandakan elementary School who was trained to serve as BEI member.

I was stunned
by the bombings, now I have reservations, I have second thoughts I may not
serve,” she told reporters. Security of the school should be doubled before,
during and after election,” she suggested.

Following the
bombings, more troops have been deployed in two adjoining towns which were not
listed by the Commission on Elections as among areas of concern for the coming
polls. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)