By Giwa SHILE
Two separate explosions rocked two towns in the Southern Philippine Lanao del Norte province on Tuesday.
The incident happened on the eve of a second plebiscite to ratify an autonomy law in some parts of Mindanao, the Military said.
Col, Alex Aduca, a spokesman for an Army brigade in the province, said no one was reported injured in both explosions in the towns of Lala and Kauwagan.
Aduca said the first improvised explosive device (IED) went off around 4:35 p.m. local time in front of a gas station in Maranding, a village in Lala town.
The second IED that was planted under a dumped truck exploded around 4:50 p.m. local time behind the Kauwagan town hall.
Aduca said the military is checking whether the blasts are related to the plebiscite scheduled on Wednesday to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
BOL will give greater autonomy and self-governance to Filipino Muslims in predominantly Muslim provinces in Mindanao.
On Jan. 21, Moro and non-Moro in the Southern Philippines voted to ratify BOL, a law that paves the way for the creation of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
BARMM is a larger autonomous region for the Muslim minority that is hoped to end nearly half a century of bloody fighting in Mindanao that killed an estimated 120,000 to 150,000 people.
The first referendum was held in the Southern provinces that make up the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) – Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and in the cities of Cotabato and Isabela in Basilan province.
A second vote will be held on Wednesday in Lanao del Norte province except Iligan City and six towns in North Cotabato province that may want to join BARMM, a larger region with more autonomy than the current ARMM.—Xinhua
