2 bombs found in separate areas

TWO improvised explosive devices (IED) were discovered by the authorities in two separate areas in Davao City's downtown area Thursday.

The first bomb was found inside the ladies' comfort room inside the Davao City Hall at around 3:45 p.m. The bomb was placed inside a bag and was placed at a conspicuous place that could be easily detected.

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The second bomb was found few minutes after the discovery at the City Hall, just outside the Tactical Supreme Store on Tionko Street near the Central Bank of the Philippines.

Both bombs were safely detonated and did not cause much damage except for the trauma it brought to Dabawenyos.

Police found that both bombs have the same mixture and could have been placed there by the same person or group of persons.

Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the IED's are made of ammonium nitrate with cellular phones in it.

He said though that the bomb does not have booster in it thus it could not deliver much damage if ever it exploded.

In an interview, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he received information about the possible terror threat on Wednesday.

He said he was supposed to meet with the police and military officials around 4 p.m. Thursday, 15 minutes before the bombs were discovered.

The city mayor said if the objective of the terror plot was to cause damage, it should have exploded immediately.

Duterte said he has some theory regarding the incident but refused to divulge them for now.

Control Over police

Duterte said he will reassume his control over the Davao City Police Office as the National Police Commission representative to the city.

The mayor resigned from the said position last year due to the inquiry made by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on the series of summary killings in the city.

CHR Chair Leila de Lima suspects that Duterte was behind the killings and is the titular head of the dreaded Davao Death Squad.

De Lima's suspicion was however not proven and the CHR is still yet to release the result of its inquiry.

In reassuming the post, Duterte immediately ordered the police to exert more effort in finding out who were behind the latest bomb scare in the city. He also appealed to the Dabawenyos to be more vigilant.

He said what he fears is not the discovered bombs but those that remain undiscovered. He did not elaborate.

Just as the city was on heightened alert due to the discovery of the bombs, House Speaker Prospero Nograles was at a debate for the mayoralty candidates sponsored by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines held at the Ateneo de Davao University Jacinto Campus.

The Dabawenyo official was debating with two other mayoralty candidates Rodrigo Buezon and Rodrigo Solamin. Vice Mayor Sara Duterte was a no-show to the said debate.

When informed of the bomb discovery, Nograles expressed doubt if it was indeed for real and not just for a show.

Davao City has been victimized by terrorism in the recent past. In 2003, a bomb exploded at the old Davao International Airport on March 4 and another one outside the Sasa wharf on April 2 of the same year.

Hundreds were killed and injured from the twin explosions. The Davao City Overland Transport Terminal at Ecoland was also bombed in 2005.