COTABATO CITY -- City Mayor Guiapal Guiani Jr. said a very influential person connected to a terrorist group is behind the blast here that killed eight persons, including two security escorts of his sister, City Administrator Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, and wounded 40 others.
"Trabaho ito ng isang malaking tao na konektado sa terorismo. We know na ayaw ng taong ito na ituwid ang mali (This is the job of an influential person connected to terrorism. We know this person doesn't want to correct what was wrong)," Guiani said in an interview.
He described the mastermind of the bombing as a coward for not coming out to face him.
"What he did was cowardice. But in due time, I am telling you, our authorities would be able to arrest him and his cohorts," Guiani said.
The mayor, however, refused to identify those behind the blast.
City Police Director Rolen Balquin identified Sayadi’s slain escorts as Harry Samsudin and Yusoph Guiadti, both relatives of the Guianis.
Also killed during the bombing was Senior Police Officer 2 Mama Manambuay, member of the police intelligence unit of the Maguindanao Provincial Police Office.
Manambuay was on board a police car, along with his head, Chief Inspector Abubakar Mangelen, when the bomb went off.
Mangelen suffered shrapnel wounds and is being treated at the Cotabato Regional Medical Center (CRMC).
Reports from the Philippine Red Cross (PRC)-Cotabato chapter said that 34 of the blast victims still remain at the CRMC and six at the Notre Dame Hospital.
Mayor Guiani, citing accounts of some of the witnesses, said two suspicious looking persons, who positioned themselves about five to six meters away from Villa Funeral Homes along Sinsuat Avenue here, were believed responsible in the roadside blast.
The bomb rigged on a Toyota Lite Ace vehicle parked in front of the funeral home, exploded just in time the convoy of Sayadi and her team was passing by.
What saved the life of Sayadi, according to the mayor, were two vehicles, a Mitsubishi and a government dump truck, parked along the road when the bomb went off.
He said that even before the Cagayan de Oro City bombing, he received threats on his and his sister’s life.
A bounty was already raised for those witnesses who could give reliable information to authorities, which could lead to the immediate arrest of the bombers and those behind the latest blast, Guianic said.
Minah Lintongan, who works in a Catholic-ran radio network here, said her uncle was one of those who died on the spot during the blast. Her nephew was also among those hurt.
"I just got home from the CRMC's eerie emergency room and may my uncle's soul rest in peace. He died on the spot after the bomb explosion on Monday. Ganito na siguro ang Cotabato...lubog na nga (sa baha), duguan pa," Lintongan said in her Facebook account.
Former journalist Lady Mae Santos said the city has been flooded for weeks and a bomb explosion are just too much an ordeal for the people of Cotabato City.
"It's saddening, frustrating, and depressing," she said.
Jewel Blake Lumasag, also a resident of this city, said the explosion was so loud that he thought it was near him.
"Then I saw black smoke billowing, people running, and screaming. We pray for protection and justice," he said.
Maria Leonora Tonel, government employee, said the passenger jeepney she was riding was just about a few meters away when the explosion happened.
"Kamuntik-muntikan na sa bomba... Thank you, Lord, at ang jeep na sinasakyan ko ay nasa bandang Western Union pa lang," Tonel said.
Cotabato City Councilor Bruce Matabalao said his heart bleeds for those innocent civilians that died in the blast. He also pleads for God’s mercy.
"In moments like this, let us strengthen our faith and continue trusting in His loving mercy. We shall overcome and rise again," Matabalao said.
The bloody blast took place four days before the Eid’l Fit’r or the culmination of the month-long fasting for Islam believers. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)