Armed men bomb, fire at Aurora parish church

By Mar T. Supnad

BALER, Aurora- Unidentified armed men apparently targeting the Parish priest here, attacked before dawn June 28 with automatic gunfire, then bombed the Parish convent in the remote town of Casiguran town before the suspects escaped under cover of darkness.

No one was injured.

The loud explosion that took place at around 2:22 a.m. awakened thousands of nervous residents in the area since the Roman Catholic Church is located along the thickly populated area in the coast of Barangay Bianoan.

Senior Supt. Esteban Romulo, Aurora police director, said they are still determining what kind of explosion the suspects lobbed inside the Parish convent, saying the unknown suspects also fired four successive gunshots from M14 rifle at the Church before attacking it with explosion.

“We are still investigating as of this moment the explosion incident and we have yet to determine what kind of explosion the suspects used,” said Col. Romulo in a telephone call.

But the suspects were likely targeting Father Jose Francisco Talaban, Parish priest of Casiguran town, since he is known as anti-government religious leader.

“Father Talaban is perceived to be an anti-government but is known as pro-poor,” said Romulo.

Romulo said policemen have been sent in the area to secure the Parish priest and other personnel.

Asked if Father Talaban was inside the convent during the attack, Romulo said they are still investigating it and do not know if the Roman Catholic leader was inside the church.

He said his investigating team recovered three empty shells for M14 and sharp nails.
But before the gunmen escaped, Romulo said they scattered propaganda materials inside the church but refused to elaborate further what kind of propaganda.