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Friday, May 30, 2008
MILF involvement eyed in Zambo blast
By Bong Garcia
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Police and military officials are eyeing the possible involvement of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) into Thursday's bombing that killed two people and injured 25 others in Zamboanga City.
A powerful bomb exploded outside the gate one of the Colonel Edwin Andrews Air Base (EAAB) shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday.
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The cell phone-detonated bomb was apparently concealed in one of several bags of civilian commuters waiting to hitch a ride on an air force C-130 cargo plane outside EAAB, police Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal said.
A man and a woman, both waiting to get on the plane, were killed in the blast, police said.
The blast also destroyed the offices of the United States Assistance for International Development (USAid)-funded Alliance of Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (Amore), Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association, Incorporated (AMWSLAI) and the first congressional district office.
Likewise, the explosion shattered the building's glass panels and damaged a public utility jeep and a motorized tricycle that were passing by when the bomb went off. A parked car near the building was also damaged.
Zamboanga Peninsula Police Office (ZPPO) Director Jaime Caringal said the bomb carries the signature of the MILF's Special Operations Team (SOT).
According to Caringal, the type of bomb that was used in Thursday morning's bombing has similarity to the explosives used by the MILF in previous bombings here in Mindanao.
Based on initial finding, the bomb used contained trinitrotoluene (TNT), said ZPPO information officer Jose Bayani Gucela.
Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) information officer Major Eugenio Batara, Jr. said the bomb was placed beside the AMWSLAI building, which is in front of the EAAB gate one.
Batara disclosed that one of those injured was an Air Force personnel detailed as sentry at the gate one.
"He (Air force personnel) was thrown several meters away due to the impact," a man who asked anonymity said.
The bombing Thursday was the second that occurred this year in Zamboanga City.
The first was the April 13 twin bombings wherein a bomb exploded at the compound of the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral Church along La Purisima Street downtown and in front of a building that houses the passport office of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Veterans Avenue, one kilometer east of the Church.
Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said without elaboration they will decisively act against the perpetrators of the bombing.
Teodoro said the bombing is not justifiable and is not in any norms of ideology citing the victims include children. Two of the injured victims were below 10 years old.
Teodoro, Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Alexander Yano, and Westmincom chief Lieutenant General Nelson Allaga who were together with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Tawi-Tawi flew to Zamboanga City to see for themselves the place of the incident and the progress of the investigation.
The President launched the Tawi-Tawi Modified Mariculture Development Project in Sibutu, Tawi-Tawi Thursday morning.
Teodoro assured the full support of the military to the local police in the conduct of the investigation and arrest of the perpetrators.
Senior Superintendent Lurimer Detran, officer-in-charge of the Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO), said they placed under investigation a vehicle owner that was seen speeding away from the blast site.
Detran said the vehicle suddenly sped just after the bomb went off. The vehicle was intercepted in Barangay Ayala, west of Zamboanga City.
He added that they have a witness who has seen a man carrying a blue bag, where investigators believed the bomb was concealed.
The police learned that few minutes before the explosion, the blue bag was seen left and unattended closed to the crowd of people waiting for a free ride to the military's C-130 plane.
Detran said they have already coordinated with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to produce the cartographic sketch of the man seen carrying the bag based on the description of the witness.
It was learned from Mayor Celso Lobregat that no one among the victims are military men. "They are all civilians," he added.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Lobregat appealed to the city residents to stay calm and vigilant and "not to show fear."
He disclosed that text messages warning about more bombings to take place have circulated just after the bomb exploded Thursday morning. (With AP/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (May 30, 2008 issue)
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