Sunday, November 25, 2007 Tightened security sought after blast By Malu Cadelina Manar
KIDAPWAN CITY -- The local government, including the police and Army, urged the business sector to intensify security measures in order to prevent another blast in the city.
The recent blast here that killed a mall employee and injured eight others could have been prevented had the management tightened its inspection on the baggage of every shopper.
Authorities have noted that at the time of the bombing, there was no security guard assigned at the baggage counter of the KMCC Mall. Also, mall guards have no security gadgets that could detect bombs, guns, or bladed weapons.
In a meeting Saturday morning with the business chambers, Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco asked owners and store managers to take up both immediate and long-range plan of securing their own property.
"This includes the setting up of security lights in the vicinity, security cameras, and other security gadgets. This is to protect each shopper or consumer and your employees from being hit or hurt in times of bombing or robbery and other crimes," Gantuangco told the traders.
The KMCC Mall blast was the second in Kidapawan City since October this year.
Last October 5, two separate blasts rocked this city that killed a 10-year-old girl and injured 39 others.
An improvised explosive device (IED) was placed a few meters away from Sugni Superstore, one of the biggest department stores.
Another explosive was placed few steps away from the Imperial Appliance Plaza along the national highway. The IEDs, rigged from two 81-mm mortars, went off almost simultaneously on that day.
To secure the city from lawless groups, Gantuangco has also sought additional troops from the 602nd Brigade of the Army.
To date, the city has almost 300 soldiers, including village guards and members of the Bantay Bomba, deployed in different exit and entry points.
"This is not to create a mind set that the city is becoming a battle field. This is being done to secure our constituents and spare them from any terror-related attack," Gantuangco said.
This developed as the city police filed on Friday criminal charges against two suspects in the KMCC bombing.
Chief Inspector Leo Ajero, city PNP director, said the suspects identified as Muhaliden Sulaik Hassan, 19, of Barangay Nuangan, Kidapawan City, and Alex Takulin Sanduyugan, 20, who hails from Pikit, North Cotabato, were positively identified by KMCC mall employees who were injured during the blast and other witnesses as the ones who left a bag containing an IED at the baggage counter.
Central Mindanao's police director Felizardo Serapio said policemen last Friday morning found from the suspects' hideout a sack containing ammonium nitrate believed to be an oxidizer or an active ingredient in making a bomb.
They also found five kilos of zinc sulfate, three pieces of 1.5 volts batteries assembled as electronic tester, several electrical wirings and other bomb paraphernalia.
