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Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Arroyo orders arrest of Abu leaders linked in ferry blast
MANILA -- President Arroyo ordered Monday the police and the military to intensify the manhunt for two Abu Sayyaf leaders, Khaddafy Janjalani and Abu Soliman, being the masterminds in the Superferry 14 bombing last February.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed charges of multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder against Janjalani, Soliman, Gamal "Tapay" Baharan, Kashmir Doe, Habil Dellosa and Alhamser "Kosovo" Manatad Limbong in relation to the Superferry 14 bombing in Manila Bay on February 27.
The filing of charges has confirmed reports that the ferry bombing was a terrorist attack.
"Today we have solved the Superferry bombing," Arroyo told reporters.
The two men who planted the bomb--Habil Dellosa and Alhamser Manatad Limbong--were in custody while four others including the two masterminds were at large, she added.
The police said the attack killed 63 people and left 53 others missing and presumed dead.
The combined toll of 116 made the ferry bombing the worst known terrorist attack in the Philippines.
After initially downplaying Abu Sayyaf's claims it was behind the disaster, investigators have concluded a bomb caused the fire that struck the ship 90 minutes after leaving the port of Manila with 899 passengers and crew.
An official inquiry concluded "that the fire on board the Superferry 14 was caused by an explosion due to an explosive device," national police spokesman Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil said in a statement.
Prior to the bombing, the ferry owners, WG&A, "received an extortion letter... demanding payment of one million dollars for the unhampered use of the waters of Mindanao" in the country's south, Bataoil said.
"Otherwise, they would do anything to disrupt and destroy their business interest," he said.
Abu Bakar Janjalani, believed to be the alias of Abu Sayyaf's leader Khadaffy Janjalani who is one of the four outstanding suspects wanted for the ferry attack, signed the letter.
A police report said a witness had seen Dellosa, a Muslim convert, packing explosives inside a television, which was to be placed on the ferry.
The witness told police Dellosa had later told him to watch the television news the next day for something to happen to the ferry.
He also allegedly told the witness the other suspects had ordered him to plant the bomb.
Arroyo said the ferry blast suspects were "the same people responsible for the Dos Palmas (resort) kidnapping" of three American tourists and a group of Filipinos in May 2001.
Two US hostages, Christian missionary Martin Burnham and Peru-born Californian Guillermo Sobero were killed in the yearlong hostage crisis. Police say Sobero was beheaded by the kidnappers.
Bataoil said police filed criminal complaints for multiple murder and attempted murder against the six suspects.
Both Dellosa and Limbong were arrested in Manila in late March in connection with earlier Abu Sayyaf kidnappings.
Arroyo said one of the two had confessed to beheading Sobero.
Arroyo also said explosives had been seized from one of the arrested suspects, foiling plans for more terrorist bombings in the capital.
"I am now instructing the police and the military to intensify the manhunt for the two masterminds--Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Soliman, and their two other accomplices," the president said in a statement.
Bataoil said police had implemented security measures "to prevent similar" attacks.
Sea marshals and bomb-sniffing dogs now accompany ferries, while the government imposed tougher screening of passengers and cargoes.
Port workers are also being trained on security, he said.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said 80 kilograms of explosives, mostly TNTs, were also presented to Arroyo.
The President said the seized explosives "prevented the perpetration of similar bombings."
"The arrest of the two suspects illustrates the fact that in the first 100 days of this administration, we have been able to stabilize our security situation," Arroyo said.
"With the completion of the medium-term plan in record time, we set the stage for the systematic and comprehensive solution to the problem of poverty in our country within the next six years," she added.
Arroyo also asked Congress to fast track the passage of the anti-terrorism bill to strengthen the fight against terrorism, "Which is a prerequisite to our fight against poverty."
Asked why it took seven months before charges could be filed against the Abu Sayyaf, Bunye said the authorities had to wait for the final report of the Special Board of Marine Inquiry on the Superferry 14 incident, which submitted its report to Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza last September 25. (JMR/AFP)
(October 12, 2004 issue)
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