ISABELA

Isabela mayor’s house bombed, 2 cars burned
BY JOAN CAPUNA

GAMU, Isabela – A bomb was thrown at the house of this town’s mayor night of June 29, damaging his garage and destroying two of his vehicles.

Nearly at the same time, two private vehicles, including a Nissan Fuego, got burned in front of the town’s cockpit arena in what police suspect was a premeditated incident.

Except for his household help, there was no one at the residence of Mayor Fernando Cumigad during the attack as he and his family were in Manila attending a meeting of the parents’ advisory council of the Ateneo de Manila University where one of his children is studying.

Cumigad said he does not believe the initial report that an ordinary Molotov was thrown at his house.

“If it was an ordinary bomb, it could not have destroyed our cement-wall fence and created a two-foot deep crater. It was a sophisticated type of bomb capable of being operated only by experts like terrorists or the military,” he said.

Cumigad won his second term as mayor of the major rice and corn-producing central town.

Meanwhile, officials of the Bureau of Fire and Protection said the burning of two vehicles in front of the cockpit complex here also on June 29 was done on purpose.

Cumigad has had a conflict with the Army’s 5th Infantry Divison here, sparked by the latter’s move last year to demolish the houses of families long residing on a military-owned property.

The conflict heightened when Cumigad accused 5th ID officials led by Maj. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang of allegedly engaging in partisan politics in the recent elections which the Army unit denied.

One of the biggest Army divisions, the 5th ID based at Camp Melchor de la Cruz in Barangay Upi here has jurisdiction over three regions in Northern Luzon .

Maclang, whose relief has been demanded by Cumigad, denied any hand in the attack on the mayor’s house.

“I don’t want to stoop to that level of such terrorism. We only involve ourselves in matters of public security. Trabaho lang tayo (we just do our jobs),” said Maclang, who was assigned here last year.

Last month, four 5th ID officers survived an attack by armed men in Barangay District 3 here. Investigation showed in could have been a case of mistaken identity.

According to 1LT. Dennis Guillermo, 5th ID public affairs chief, the four soldiers, in plain clothes and unarmed, were waiting inside their van when they were fired at.

“It is strongly believed that the motive of the shooting was purely political. It is sad to note that the incident further blemished the image of the municipality of Gamu… as this contributed to the increasing number of violent incidents in relation to politics,” the Army said in a statement.