Security tightened in Misamis Occidental after governor narrowly escapes roadside bombing

MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL - The Philippine military tightened security in the southern province of Misamis Occidental following a roadside bombing that targeted Governor Henry Oaminal. 

Oaminal narrowly escaped the bombing in the town of Clarin where he attended a meeting late Sunday. 

Army Maj. Gen. Steve Crespillo, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, said the attack targeted Oaminal who was in a convoy of four vehicles. He said the bombing occurred in the village of Lapasan before midnight Sunday.

Crespillo said the convoy was traversing the road from AYA Hotel & Residences toward Ozamiz City when a roadside bomb exploded hitting the second vehicle of the convoy where Oaminal was. 

“The first vehicle of the convoy was a PNP patrol pick-up vehicle, followed by the vehicle of the Governor and two other security vehicles,” he said, adding Oaminal was heading home when the attack occurred. 

“We strongly condemn this barbarous attack of cowards who executed unprovoked aggression targeting the good governor of Misamis Occidental. Our troops are currently assessing the incident, together with the local authorities, to establish the circumstances and identify the perpetrators,” Crespillo said. 

He also urged the public to remain calm but vigilant. “Rest assured that your AFP, through the Western Mindanao Command, will remain steadfast in conducting combat and non-combat operations to ensure the safety and security of every citizen,” he said. 

Crespillo did not say if anyone was injured from the blast, but Oaminal, in a statement sent to The Mindanao Examiner regional newspaper late Monday, said he was unscathed from the bombing and he described the attack as “a blatant example of the very type of violence that our governance is working hard to root out of Misamis Occidental.” 

In a live video stream on his Facebook page that followed a few hours after the incident, Oaminal assured his constituents that he suffered no injuries and there were no casualties from the incident, with only two security vehicles sustaining damages. 

Oaminal blamed drug syndicates and crime lords as behind the bombing. “Many crime lords and drug syndicates lost hundreds of millions of pesos worth of illegal operations when law and order was restored in the province. This is undoubtedly the reason why they are resorting to such desperate tactics,” he said.

While no individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, Oaminal admitted that his administration made “many enemies out of previously untouchable criminal elements in the province, in the years spent restoring peace and order.” 

The bombing was the fourth attempt on Oaminal's life. In a video that eventually went viral on social media in December 2021, the governor was injured in a sniper attack during a Christmas party, where his vice gubernatorial candidate Michael Gutierrez was killed. 

Another incident before this involved actress Kim Chiu, whose vehicle was mistaken as Oaminal’s when gunmen opened fire. The governor then divulged that police intelligence reports revealed that crime lords had placed a P15 to P20 million bounty on his life. “I will not be deterred by this cowardly ambush. I assure our Misamisnons that we will press on and keep the peace,” Oaminal said. (Mindanao Examiner)