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Monday, June 12, 2006
9 persons wounded in Batangas blast
MANILA -- Three explosions rocked Metro Manila and Batangas on the eve of the celebration of the Philippines' 108th Independence Day Monday and left nine people injured, police said.
Two explosions Sunday further emphasized the need for the police and military to be on full alert status for Monday's observance of the country's 108th anniversary of Philippine Independence as several protests are expected to coincide with the celebrations and Sunday's explosions.
At 5 a.m. Sunday, a fragmentation grenade exploded at the Lipa City Public Market, injuring all the nine victims. The explosive used in the blast was placed inside a bayong (a bag made up of coconut leaves), according to the initial investigation conducted by the police.
Police said the grenade was left at the rear portion of a jeepney, leaving nine injured -- four of them were identified as Dennis Carandang, 31; Vicente Manozca; Florendo Castillo, 60; and Orlando Magatola, 35.
Thirty minutes later, a blast ripped through the National Capital Region Police Office bus parked along Philcoa Road in Quezon City.
National Capital Region director Vidal Querol said he was jogging near the immediate vicinity when he learned of the explosion.
The three policemen on duty were having coffee nearby when still unidentified men lobbed the bomb into the bus, police said. The right siding of the vehicle bore a hole approximately two feet in diameter.
Shortly after the incident in Quezon City, the explosion at Lawton in Manila shattered tiles outside the police sub-station. Lawton is in the same area of the Liwasang Bonifacio, the staging ground of the inter-faith rally against Charter change, coinciding with the Independence Day celebrations.
A shadowy group called the Taumbayan at Kawal claimed responsibility for the two blasts in Metro Manila. The group also owned up to the explosions at the Grepalife Building in Makati City on June 1 and the residence of suspected jueteng lord Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda in Pampanga last Friday.
Querol theorized that the intelligence community was checking if the three bombings were related. He said the explosions could have been perpetrated by terrorists or by forces wanting to destabilize the Arroyo government.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the police and military should look seriously into the successive blasts and ensure that it would not spoil Monday's Independence Day celebrations.
"There's an instruction to the police to seriously look into the explosions. This has something to do with the plot or attempts portray a destabilized atmosphere leading to the Independence Day. I hope it's not," he said.
Presidential Security Group (PSG) Chief Delfin Bangit said the police are on top of the investigation of the blasts, and they would just focus on securing President Arroyo during the festivities.
Bangit said they are coordinating with the police, particularly the Manila Police District (MPD), and at present they see "no direct threats" against the President.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Arturo Lomibao said the raising of alert levels would insure the maximum availability of police personnel and resources to provide security and respond to any contingency.
He ordered all police regional offices to maintain an active state of operational readiness and vigilance to address any security situation that may disrupt Monday's activities. Police regional directors may upgrade their respective alert status as the need arises.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), for its part, upgraded its alert status throughout the country for the event but clarified that it has not received any information that the affair would be sabotaged by certain sectors.
AFP Public Information Office Chief Tristan Kison said the military leadership ordered the raising of the security alert effective 8 a.m. Sunday as a precautionary measure.
"It was declared as part of our preparations for the Independence Day celebrations," said Kison, adding that the declaration has nothing to do with the bombings that rocked Metro Manila and Lipa City last Sunday that left at least nine people injured.
Kison said the military planned to raise the alert status even before the bombings -- one against a police satellite office in Quezon City and the other at the Lipa City Public Market and near a police station at the Jones Bridge in Lawton, Manila.
"So far there is none," said Spokesman Ramon Zagala, stressing an earlier assessment by the Presidential Security Group (PSG).
He said they have earmarked 6,000 policemen and soldiers for the activity to ensure the security of the President and of the affair.
Zagala said authorities did not consider the bombings in Metro Manila in the declaration of the full alert status, saying nothing definite has yet to come out in the investigations. "The PNP is still investigating," he said.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the 108th celebration of the Philippine Independence should be marked as a day of unity instead of division and mudslinging.
Highlights of the 108th Independence Day celebrations include the traditional flag-raising ceremony at the Rizal Park to be led by President Arroyo.
The Luneta celebrations will be capped by a colorful civic-military parade at the Quirino Grandstand that will culminate with a cultural presentation.
After the event, the President will receive members of the diplomatic corps at the Rizal Hall in Malacañang for the annual Independence Day Vin d'Honneur. This year's Independence Day theme is "Pagkakaisa para sa Matatag na Republika".
Simultaneous flag-raising ceremonies will be held at 7 a.m. at the Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite led by Vice President Noli de Castro; the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City led by Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban; Mausoleo de los Veteranos at the Manila North Cemetery led by Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz; the Pinaglabanan Shrine in San Juan led by Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.; and at the Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan led by House Speaker Jose de Venecia.
Similar simultaneous activities will also be held in Cebu City and Davao City. (VR/JMR/Sunnex)
(June 12, 2006 issue)
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