Pangasinan: Grenade blast at whistleblower’s house

Angela Casauay

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Mayor Rodrigo Orduña earlier filed a plunder complaint against Pangasinan Gov Amado Espino Jr for receiving jueteng money

WHISTLE BLOWER. Mayor Rodrigo Orduna links Pangasinan Gov Amado Espino Jr to 'jueteng.' File photo by Natashya Gutierrez

MANILA, Philippines – Police are investigating the alleged grenade attack on the home of Rodrigo Orduña, mayor of Bugallon, Pangasinan, past midnight, Wednesday, April 24. 

Pangasinan provincial police spokesperson Supt Ryan Manongdo told reporters an unidentified suspect lobbed the grenade at Orduña’s house in Barangay Poblacion at 1:35 am Wednesday. No injuries were reported. 

Orduña earlier made headlines when he accused Pangasinan Gov Amado Espino Jr of receiving P900-M in jueteng money. Espino is now facing a plunder complaint over the allegations before the Ombudsman. 

A third-termer mayor, Orduña is running for vice mayor of Bugallon. Espino’s son, Jumel, is running for mayor of the same town. But they’re not allies.

Braganza: look at links to plunder charges

Liberal Party spokesperson Oscar Lambino condemned the attack. “We are asking the authorities to investigate this deplorable act and arrest whoever is behind the attack,” Lambino said. 

Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza, Espino’s staunch rival for Pangasinan governor in the upcoming elections, urged investigators to look into the explosion’s possible links with the plunder charges filed by Orduña against Espino.  

“The investigators should explore all possible motives for the attack. Whoever is behind this insidious act is serious in silencing Mayor Orduna,” he said. 

Braganza also called on the police to increase police visibility and checkpoints in the area. 

“We also call on the authorities to intensify the crackdown on private armed groups in Pangasinan to ensure that lawless elements would not be used by politicians to terrorize their rivals,” Braganza said. 

Espino orders ‘non-partisan’ investigation

Calling reports of the alleged explosion “sketchy,” Espino said he has asked the provincial police to conduct a “proper and thorough investigation” of the incident. 

Although initial reports have identified a hand-made grenade as the cause of the blast, Espino said investigation over the real cause of explosion was still ongoing. 

“I don’t want anybody to use unverified information to magnify insignificant events and create a distorted picture of the peace and order situation in the province,”  Espino said in a statement.  

Pangasinan is among the 15 provinces tagged as hotspots for election-related violence in the upcoming May elections.  – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!