Rifle grenades found in dump near Leni-Kiko campaign HQ in Naga
NAGA CITY—Police in this city in Camarines Sur province found on Friday a couple of rifle grenades in a garbage dumping area of a hotel where supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan have set up their campaign headquarters.
On Friday, around 10 a.m., Carlos Cambe Jr., an employee of the City Solid Waste Management Office, found two pieces of rifle grenade kept inside a derby box (used to hold a fighting cock) while collecting a pile of garbage near the swimming pool of Carmen Hotel.
Cambe reported the incident to the police and a team from the explosive ordnance disposal and canine units were immediately dispatched to examine the two rifle grenades. The explosives were later taken for safekeeping by the police.
Cambe, in an interview on Friday, said he found the explosives wrapped in plastic.
“At first, I thought it was just food since it was covered with cellophane inside a derby box, but I checked it again because, for the longest time, it is our job to check every trash for proper waste disposal,” Cambe said.
Police investigators said the derby box where the explosives were hidden was reportedly owned by Redentor Tumatorgo, Carmen Hotel’s chief of security.
Unrelated
During the investigation, Tumatorgo, a former personnel of the Philippine Navy, reportedly admitted owning the derby box but denied that the explosives were his, according to the police.
Police Senior Master Sgt. Tobias Bongon, Naga City police spokesperson, said in a separate interview that further investigation was being conducted to identify the owner of the explosives.
Carmen Hotel, an establishment in Barangay San Francisco, is about a kilometer away from Plaza Quezon, the venue where Robredo, Pangilinan and their senatorial lineup will hold their proclamation rally on Tuesday.
Bongon, on Saturday, dismissed speculations that the two rifle grenades found in the garbage were meant to disrupt the Robredo-Pangilinan political event or the holding of the two-day bar examinations at the University of Nueva Caceres on Feb. 4 and Feb. 6.
The hotel has yet to reopen to the public since it shut down after the coronavirus pandemic struck in March 2020. But the owners have allowed Robredo, who is from the city, to open a campaign headquarters in one of its facilities for free.
The hotel was completely closed off after the rifle grenades were found but the police allowed the campaign headquarters, operated by volunteers belonging to the Solid Leni Bicol, to reopen after its premises was checked and the explosives removed, said Ronald Rodriquez, regional campaign manager of Solid Leni Bicol.
“We are 10,000-percent positive that the incident has nothing to do with the upcoming city events. The discovery of the explosive was purely an irresponsible handling and safekeeping where an ongoing investigation is being conducted,” he added.