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Sunday, October 21, 2007
Police check on RSM claim in mall blast
MANILA – Police are verifying reports that the Rajah Sulayman Movement (RSM) was the one responsible for Friday’s mall explosion in Makati City that killed at least nine people and wounded more than 100 others.
Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon said they are still verifying reports that RSM spokesman Ruben Omar Lavilla, alias Sheik Omar, sent a text message to ABS-CBN and claimed responsibility for the Glorietta 2 mall blast.
Post your comments on the explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City.
RSM is a terror organization composed of converted Islams and operating in Manila and Northern Luzon.
Razon said the person claiming as Omar was speaking in Muslim during the television interview while police records showed that the latter is an Illonggo.
Lavilla, a former professor of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, also allegedly demanded the release of RSM founder Hilarion del Rosario Santos, alias Ahmed Santos, who was captured in 2005.
The RSM has been tagged as responsible for the Rizal Day bombings of an LRT train and a passenger bus in Manila in 2000 and the Valentine’s Day bombings in Davao City, General Santos City and Makati in 2004.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the other hand has called a full National Security Council meeting early next week.
The meeting will be attended by former President Fidel Ramos, Senate President Manuel Villar, House Speaker Jose de Venecia and other stakeholders to discuss measures that will assure public safety after the recent bomb blast.
Arroyo ordered police to "leave no stone unturned" in their investigation.
She called a Cabinet security meeting Saturday with police and military officials at the national police headquarters.
Arroyo said the Glorietta 2 blast is just one of several problems facing the country's economic growth, the others being oil price hikes, and so-called "political noise."
But she said with the Filipino people united and continuing to work hard, they will overcome the problems they now face.
Military issued
Last Friday’s explosion ripped through three floors of the Glorietta 2 mall, hurling slabs of concrete, twisting steel reinforcements, and shattering glass panels. Earlier, police reports had said a fuel tank caused the blast.
Evidence collected from the mall indicates that the bomb “contained RDX, the main chemical component of C4,” the police said in a report to President Arroyo.
“We can assume those are military ordnance components. We presume those explosives could be of that origin,” a police chemist, whose name was not disclosed, told Arroyo at the conference.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said RDX is a controlled substance.
The PNP chemist said they are still trying to collect more samples from the site. “At this point in time that is what we got from our laboratory,” added the chemist.
The PNP said it has asked its counterparts abroad for assistance in preventing a repeat of Friday’s deadly explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall.
Razon said he has ordered the PNP’s anti-terror group Task Force Sanlahi to be “on the lookout” for terrorism suspects.
“We have this watchlist of terrorists and directed Task Force Sanlahi to be on the lookout and arrest them if they are in the area,” he said.
Razon added: “We also requested different security agencies to instruct security guards to be more deliberate in the conduct of their search of bags and packages entering these places.”
National Capital Region Police Director Geary Barias said they have also started reviewing closed-circuit TV (CCTV) footage of the area where the blast occurred Friday afternoon.
“CCTV footage is being reviewed to detect suspects in the incident. Coordination has been made with management to provide the structural design of the building,” Barias said.
Days ago, Razon ordered “maximum security coverage” at possible southern Philippine terror targets, such as critical infrastructure, malls, transport hubs, and religious shrines, following police intelligence reports of possible terror bombings after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Death toll now 10
A Makati Rescue Team member recovered one more body, the 10th fatality, buried under rubble inside the mall late Saturday night.
Rescuers identified the latest fatality as Maureen de Leon, 23 of Quezon City. Her body was found around 10 p.m. Saturday at the stairs going to the basement of the mall.
The discovery of de Leon's body followed the retrieval of Rainer Tan's remains, which was found at the rubble under the escalator of Glorietta 2.
Makati City Police Chief Superintendent Gilbert Cruz said the body of Tan was identified by his wife Normita.
Partial list of those killed and injured in Glorietta blast
Authorities said rescuers and investigators were having a difficult time in their operations because the site was covered with thick dust and piles of debris while the mall’s basement was submerged in knee-deep water.
The report said a big piece of cement that fell from the second floor was also hindering the operations of the rescue team.
Rescue teams have agreed to wrap up the retrieval and rescue operations after the recovery of de Leon’s body.
P3-million reward
The government has also raised a P3 million to anyone who can give information leading to the identification and arrest of the suspects in Friday’s deadly bombing in Glorietta 2 mall.
Barias said the President has announced a P2-million reward to encourage citizens to help identify the bombing suspects.
The City Government of Makati together with the business community has also vowed to give out P1-million money reward.
“This (bombing) case is not yet conclusive. But if ever this was an act of terrorism, then we will raise money worth P1 million. This is the initial amount that we are offering” said Councilor Jejomar Binay Jr.
Authorities have already ruled out the theory that a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank triggered the explosion.
Operations at the Glorietta 1, 3, and 4 were “back to normal" as both foreign and local mall goers flocked the shopping mall when it opened at around 10:15 a.m. Saturday.
The Ayala Land Inc. had expressed their deep condolences to the families of the victims of tragedy, ensuring the public that they are “extending their outmost care and maximum treatment to the injured and the families of those who were killed in this tragedy.”
“We at Ayala Land deeply were saddened by Friday’s explosion in Glorietta 2. We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the families affected by the tragedy,” said Jaime I. Ayala, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ayala Lands Inc.
“We are beefing up the security, not just in Glorietta but also in all of our other malls. We will be complimenting our regular compliment of 120 security men by 20 percent to protect the public. We will have additional personnel and bomb sniffing dogs. This move is in addition to the metal detectors we installed last year,” he said.
Probe on Trillanes
Police will also be asking Senator Antonio Trillanes on the basis of his allegation naming Esperon as the mastermind behind the Glorietta bombing.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno directed the police to interview the senator if he has evidence to back his claim.
Puno added that this is a “very serious matter,” and accusations like those should be investigated.
On Friday, Trillanes identified Esperon and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales as possibly behind the explosion.
He said the incident was similar to the so-called “Oplan Greenbase," in 2003, which allegedly included the bombing of the Davao International Airport and the Sasa wharf.
“Let us not play around with lives of people here. There is fair game and unfair game, a tragedy that befalls people like this is not fair game. We implore the political opposition to please exclude this tragedy from their laundry list of issues they are going to fire at the administration,” he said.
Puno also said the media should have “checked and double-checked” with Trillanes first before airing his claims.(JMR,AHA,VR/Sunnex)(October 21, 2007 issue)
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