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Friday, March 05, 2004
Reyes, Corpus cleared in Davao twin bombings
* Suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) member Muntazer Sudang also cleared of involvement
* Maniwang Commission says documents presented by Magdalo group on "Oplan: Greenbase" fake
THE five-man Maniwang Commission tasked to investigate the twin bombings that rocked Davao City last year cleared former Defense Sec. Angelo Reyes and former Armed Forces intelligence chief Victor Corpus of involvement in the incidents.
The commission, chaired by Msgr. Pedro B. Maniwang, parish priest of Sta. Ana Parish Shrine in Davao City, denied a claim by rebel Capt. Milo Maestrecampo that the rebel junior officer was ordered by his superiors to bomb mosques in Davao City.
Maestrocampo is one of the five leaders in the failed 2003 Oakwood mutiny.
Maniwang, with commission members Anita Alfelor-Alagaban, Joji Ilagan-Bian, Naguib Sinarimbo, Justice Usec. Ramon Liwag and former Justice Usec. Jose Calida, went to Malacañang Thursday to submit their findings and recommendations on the Davao bombings to President Arroyo, through Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo.
The commission was formed by Arroyo in September, following allegations by the Magdalo group that Reyes and Corpus were behind the bombings.
The Magdalo group based their allegation on documents of an operation dubbed as "Oplan: Greenbase" supposedly made by then presidential adviser on the peace process Eduardo Ermita. The commission deemed the documents "fake".
Maniwang, in a briefing in Malacanang, said their findings were based on documents and reports they gathered, along with testimonies from 49 witnesses from Davao and Metro Manila.
The commission, in its report, said there was no evidence linking Reyes or Corpus to the bombing of the Davao International Airport in March 2003 and of the Sasa Wharf Seaport in April.
They also cleared the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of involvement in the bombings.
Sudang innocent
The commission also was not convinced that Muntazer Sudang, the prime suspect in the bombing of the Davao airport and suspected MILF member, could stage such an attack, adding that the police admitted that he, along with some of his relatives, have been charged simply because they had been identified as MILF members.
Sudang was at the airport to fetch an arriving relative when the bomb exploded at the crowded waiting shed outside the facility.
"It would task one's credulity to believe that Muntazer would detonate the bomb at the waiting shed and thereby expose himself and his relatives to possible death and grave injury," the Commission said.
Maniwang said while they are not asking the court to drop the charges against Muntazer, his alleged cohorts and some MILF leaders tagged in the incident, they are urging the prosecutor's office to review the evidence and facts of the case again.
The MILF has been asking the government to drop the charges against their leaders as part of confidence-building measures. JMR/Sunnex Luzon
(March 5, 2004 issue)
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