ARINGAY, La Union – Unidentified attackers bombed the residential compound of Mayor Teresita Ong in Barangay San Eugenio, here, before dawn last Thursday, police reported Friday.

No one was hurt in the 3 a.m. explosion of the bomb fired from an M-203 grenade launcher that missed Ong’s house by about 20 meters.

The bombing destroyed a mango tree planted in the compound and grenade fragments were found everywhere.

The attack, however, alarmed residents and local sectors over the frequency of politically-motivated crimes in the province in the run-up to the elections on May 10.

Recently, an improvised explosive device (IED) blasted the frontage of the store ownd by Barangay Captain Romeo Carino in the village of San Benito Sur, here. No one was hurt in that incident.

Earlier, Barangay Captain Ulysis Borja was shot and wounded by still unidentified armed men in front of his wife while they were walking in front of the Santa Cecilia Elementary School in his village.

Police are looking into the angle that the attacks might be politically-motivated.

Ong, who was a supporter of incumbent La Union 2nd District Rep. Thomas Dumpit Jr. in the previous elections, has joined the camp of reelectionist Governor Manuel Ortega and now supports former Agoo Mayor Eufranio Eriguel who is contesting Dumpit’s seat in Congress.