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John Unson - Philstar.com
January 1, 2026 | 4:14pm
The 22 villagers hurt in the bombing in Matalam, Cotabato are now confined to different hospitals.
Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two men riding a motorcycle together hurt 22 revelers, including children, in a grenade attack at Barangay Dalapitan in Matalam town in Cotabato at about midnight Wednesday, New Year’s Eve, December 31.
Lt. Col. Arniel Melocotones, Matalam police chief, and local executives separately told reporters on Thursday morning that one of the two motorcycle-riding men threw a fragmentation grenade at the victims, then set off firecrackers and pyrotechnics along a highway in Sitio Ipil-Ipil in Barangay Dalapitan, and motored away immediately.
Barangay officials and police investigators who responded to the incident said the grenade blast that ripped through the area left 22 revelers wounded, among them grade school children.
The incident triggered panic among villagers in Barangay Dalapitan.
The victims, who sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of their bodies, were immediately transported by policemen and emergency responders from the Matalam local government unit to different hospitals for treatment.
Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, chairperson of the multi-sector Cotabato Provincial Peace and Order Council, has condemned the bombing and urged local officials in Matalam and residents of Barangay Dalapitan to help the police identify its perpetrators.
“Our provincial government will provide the victims [with] essential support that they will need for the treatment of their injuries," Mendoza said.
Brig Gen. Arnold Ardiente, director of the Police Regional Office 12, said Melocotones and his subordinates in the Matalam Municipal Police Station, intelligence agents from the Cotabato Provincial Police Office and local officials are cooperating in identifying the two men behind the bombing for prosecution.
Army Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog, commander of the 602nd Infantry Brigade, and his superior, Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, separately said plainclothes operatives from their intelligence units in the province are helping the police put a closure to the incident.
