The ancestral home of retired Commission of Elections (COMELEC) chairperson Sheriff Abas in Barangay RH, Cotabato City was blasted by a grenade past 7:00 AM on Tuesday, August 15.
Initial information from the Cotabato City Police Information Office found a safety lever of the grenade used in the garden inside the residential compound.
The suspect is yet to be confirmed, but based on the CCTV footage, he was wearing a bonnet while riding a black NMAX motorcycle.
Fortunately, no one was killed or injured in the explosion, but shrapnel hit the SUV parked inside the house, and the walls of the house were also punctured.
Abas, now residing in Metro Manila, doubted that he was the target of the attack since he was no longer serving the Comelec.
As such, it was his mother and other relatives who were at the house when the attack occurred.
Due to the incident, Abas’ younger brother, Zul Qarneyn Abas, the deputy health minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), announced that they would give a reward amounting to P300,000 in exchange for the information that would lead to apprehending the suspect.
"Magbibigay kami ng P300,000 kung sino man ang makapagbigay ng impormasyon, magli-lead sa resolution ng case," the younger Abas said in an interview.
"We leave it to the authorities. Wala namang nakakaalam kung sino ang may pakana nito, ipagbigay-alam na lang sa authorities," he added.
With the life-threatening incident, Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao strongly condemned the grenade throwing, stating that such a remorseless act of violence is abominable and must not be perpetuated.
For now, the Abas residence is under tight security as crime investigators scour the area for more evidence.
Sheriff Abas served as Comelec chairman from 2018 to 2022, holding the record as the youngest Comelec chairman at the age of 39 and also being the first Muslim Filipino to hold the position.
