Police Scene of the Crime Operatives and bomb disposal experts inspect the blast site in front of a mosque in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur, after a grenade attack wounded five people on Saturday, July 18, 2026. — Photo courtesy of Shariff Aguak Vice Mayor Oping Ampatuan
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao del Sur — Five people were wounded in a grenade attack near the town’s welcome rotunda in Barangay Poblacion early Saturday, July 18, on the third day of the election gun ban for the Sept. 14 Bangsamoro parliamentary elections.
The explosion occurred at about 6:25 a.m. near the town center, close to a grand mosque, according to Capt. Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR).
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“Initial reports said five persons sustained minor injuries,” Salanguit said.
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Shariff Aguak Mayor Akmad Ampatuan said police, firefighters, and personnel from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office immediately responded to the scene and rushed the injured to the Bangsamoro Regional Medical Center.
“The police are currently carrying out a thorough investigation to determine who were behind the attack,” Ampatuan said in a statement.
“We urge everyone to remain calm and cooperate with the authorities. Please rely only on official announcements issued by the municipal government and the [police],” he added.
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The grenade attack came on the third day of the implementation of the election gun ban for the first parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), scheduled on Sept. 14.
The blast occurred about 50 meters from the site where Ampatuan’s bulletproof vehicle was ambushed on Jan. 25 by gunmen armed with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).
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In that attack, assailants fired an RPG at the mayor’s convoy before opening fire with automatic rifles. Ampatuan escaped unharmed, but two of his security escorts sustained minor injuries.
Subsequent police and military operations killed three suspected attackers, while another suspect, believed to have acted as a lookout, later surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation.
Following Saturday’s explosion, Ampatuan appealed for calm and unity.
“We call on everyone to stand united and not give in to fear. Let us remain vigilant, but above all, let us continue to support one another and work together,” the mayor said. /das
