CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The grenade-throwing incident in his family’s ancestral house on Wednesday will not deter House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez to pursue his bod to join the mayoralty race here come 2022 national and local elections.
Rodriguez issued the statement after a still-unknown assailant lobbed a grenade on his family’s ‘ ancestral house in Barangay Nazareth Wednesday dawn. But the grenade did not explode.
Police investigators here revealed the \grenade, which did not explode, was lobbed from outside the main gate and landed on the house’s garage, by two motorcycle-riding men at around 1:11 a.m.
Maj. Evan Viñas, city police spokesperson, said the MK2 grenade failed to explode saying the safety lever was not removed, though he said they are still awaiting the report of the .city’s Explosive and Ordnance Disposal team.
Though they theorized it was a scare tactic against the Rodriguez family since the incident happened after the congressman announced he was considering a mayoralty bid,
The police will also use the CCTV footage to unmask the perpetrators.
“Col. Aaron Mandia, our city police director, have directed our special units and operatives to deepen their investigation and identify the suspects and establish the motive,” Viñas emphasized.
Rodriguez said this is the first time that such an incident happened to him and his family, several of whom had held or are currently holding elective positions.
His brother Maximo Jr. used to be the city’s second district representative; his sister Jocelyn is a member of the city council, while his nephew Maximo III is the chairman of Nazareth.
The legislator is also the founder of the Abante Mindanao party list, and the incumbent president of the Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines.
Rodriguez said he has been in politics for 18 years, 12 years as a congressman, and six years as vice governor and provincial board member of Misamis Oriental, and in those times, he has never been in a personal fight with political rivals nor has he received any form of threat.
“No one from our family has personal enemies, although we have political adversaries. After the election, we forget about it and good relations are restored,” Rodriguez said in a radio interview.
In spite of what happened, Rodriguez said the grenade-throwing has not dampened his resolve to either seek re-election as a congressman or run for the mayoralty.
“I am not affected by this since our only goal is to serve the people,” he said, adding that he is the most likely target of the threat among the family members.-Jigger Jerusalem
