LIEUTENANT General Cirilito Sobejana, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, called for calm and vigilance in the wake of the recovery of bomb-making components in the hinterlands of Sulu.
“We call on the general public to remain vigilant and immediately report to the security forces of any suspicious person or abandoned things in the vicinity so as to prevent any untoward incident,” Sobejana said.
The Joint Task Force Sulu, with the help of civilians, recovered 700 kilograms of ammonium nitrate and one 81-mm mortar fuse in an abandoned house in the village of Latih in Patikul, Sulu on Saturday, September 14, 2019.
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound used to make bombs.
Results of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) forensic examinations of the bombings at Jolo Cathedral and in the village of Tanjung, Indanan showed that the main component of the improvised bombs was ammonium nitrate.
“In many occasions, we have neutralized ASG’s (Abu Sayyaf Group) scheme in deliberately prepositioning explosives in the outskirts of Jolo ready to be picked up and delivered by other ASG members to their targets. But we never expected these huge explosive components during the search,” said Brigadier General Leopoldo Imbang, Jr., Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team commander.
Major General Corleto Vinluan, Jr., Joint Task Force Sulu commander, said the recovered items can be used to manufacture improvised bombs “that could cause tremendous destruction beyond our imagination.” (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)