AFTER the bomb explosion in General Santos City on Sunday noon, authorities elevated the security alert status to “Level 4” to prevent another attack and secure the city from lawless elements.

Lieutenant Colonel Datu Hasbi Jamalul, acting Civil Military Officer (CMO) of Joint Task Force GenSan, in an interview yesterday with SunStar Davao said General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera raised the city’s alert status to thwart further atrocities after eight civilians were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in Crossing Makar, Barangay Apopong, General Santos City.

“Ang Gensan ay nag-declare ng level 4 na security level. Hinigpitan ang checkpoint, patrolling, visibility ng otoridad, inisa-isa ang sasakyan na pumasok,” Jamalul said.

He added that they have also gone to Muslim villages in General Santos City to ask for the leaders, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and others for their cooperation and also strengthening the profiling of the individuals.

When asked on the update of the investigation of the incident, he said authorities have not yet identified the perpetrators as the investigation is still ongoing.

Based on the initial result of the investigation, there were two unidentified male persons who left the IED inside a brown eco bag. They were riding a black motorcycle.

He described the driver to be 5’2 in height, curly hair, wearing multi-color dominant red shirt and multi-color dominant cargo pants while the other suspect stands 5’2, wearing black bonnet, black shirt and black pants.

Initially, the suspects parked their vehicles near the area and after roaming around, they went back where their vehicles were parked and unload the bag. They left heading to Polomolok since the checkpoint is just 5 minutes away.

Meanwhile, the victims are still confined in the hospital. He said although the blast was powerful but since there were lesser people at that time, it wasn’t able to cause serious injury.