Grenade lobbed at bank in Bangued, Abra’s capital

BAGUIO CITY (March 10, 2025)— A hand-held grenade was lobbed, though did not explode, at the local branch of the Philippine National Bank in Bangued, Abra’s capital after midnight Sunday.

Abra police are still sifting leads on the attack, most Abrenians believe was the handiwork of spoilers of the successful Abrenian Kawayan Festival Grand Float Parade Sunday morning.

Initial details uncovered by probers said an unidentified man hurled the fragmentation grenade infront of the bank along Magallanes St., barangay Zone 5, Bangued town.

The bank’s glass panel was shattered not because of the grenade though but the perpetrator threw stones at the building first then the grenade.

At least three grenade-lobbing incidents occurred in the past several months, two in Bangued and another in neighboring Pidigan town, seemingly pointing out a “signature local terror act” by a local political opposition group in Abra.

“They wanted to make a scene, at the least, and terror at the most, because of the success of the Kawayan Festival,” said a leading political figure, who begged off to be named. Refusing to name names who were those behind Sunday’s grenade attack, the political leader ascertained, “Abrenians knew them well.”

Not possibly linked though was the magnitude 3.5 earthquake that rocked San Quintin town at around 1:50AM Monday dawn.  The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) recorded the quake’s epicenter at 17.60°N, 120.50°E, approximately 6 kilometers north-northwest of the town, with a shallow depth of 0.1 kilometers.

Yet at 9:20 AM Monday, a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was again detected in Langiden town, with an epicenter at 17.63°N, 120.51°E, about 9 kilometers north-northwest of the town, at a depth of 6 kilometers.