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Saturday, November 24, 2007
Kidapawan bomb suspects charged
By Malu Cadelina Manar
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Police filed murder and multiple frustrated murder charges Friday against two suspects they arrested an hour after an incendiary bomb exploded at a baggage counter of KMCC Mall on Thursday afternoon.
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Charged were Hassan Mahaliden Sulaik, 19, a resident of Barangay Nuangan, Koronadal, and Alex Takulin Sanduyugan, 20, of Barangay Rajamuda, Pikit, North Cotabato.
A mall employee was killed while eight others were injured in the said blast that occurred past 5 p.m. Thursday.
Chief Superintendent Felizardo Serapio, regional police director for Central Mindanao, said one of the pieces of evidence against the suspects was a baggage tag they recovered from the two.
The two, onboard a motorcycle, were seen few meters away from the blast site minutes after the explosion.
Both denied the allegations.
In an interview, Sulaik said he was in the area to fetch his girlfriend who works as saleslady at the KMCC Mall. He was joined by his cousin Sanduyugan.
"Malinis ang konsiyensiya namin. Wala kaming intensiyon na manakit ng kapwa namin (Our conscience is clean. We have no intention to hurt others)," said Sulaik.
An investigation, however, revealed a different picture.
Members of the Cotabato Task Force and Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) Team of the Kidapawan City PNP recovered from Sulaik's house in Barangay Nuangan a chemical used to manufacture an incendiary bomb.
Sulaik, they also said, was a relative of a suspected bomber arrested a few months ago in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat.
Serapio said the explosive could have been manufactured in Sulaik's house.
The Al Khobar terror group is believed behind the recent mall blast, said Kidapawan City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco.
Gantuangco said one of the leaders of the group called him up Thursday morning and warned him that a bomb would explode anytime and anywhere in the city if he still would refuse to give them the money they need.
Accordingly, the group is asking for half a million pesos every month from the City Government as protection money.
Gantuangco said the group admitted to him they were responsible for the October 5 twin blast in the city that killed a 10-year-old girl and wounded 39 others.
"I knew how serious they were. But I won't heed their demands," the mayor said.
Serapio said the Al Khobar group surfaced early this year at the height of bus bombings in Central Mindanao. Two of the bus companies plying the Cotabato-Davao route became targets of their bombing activities.
Bus company owners told authorities the group is extorting money from them. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (November 24, 2007 issue)
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