Military urges public vigilance as attacks scar Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao

Two bombs exploded 30 seconds apart at a town fiesta in Leyte province in Eastern Visayas wounding 32 people watching a boxing match while another explosion in Cotabato in Mindanao tore through a delivery truck, wounding another five people last Wednesday night.

Earlier that day, another improvised explosive device (IED) went off at a bakery in Taytay town on the island province of Palawan in Luzon, police and security forces said.

Authorities were caught off guard by the three bombing incidents in the three main island groupings of the archipelago – Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao – and the military is now looking into the possible involvement of the Maute Group while calling on the public to increase vigilance in public areas of convergence.

However, in a live interview on the ABS-CBN News Channel, President Duterte referred to the bombing in Hilongos, Leyte as “drug-related.”

Two improvised explosive device (IED) were set off within a minute past 9 p.m. in the plaza of that town while a crowd of more or less 500 were busy watching an amateur boxing match as part of the town fiesta.

As a result, 32 people were injured and were taken to different hospitals, said Chief Superintendent Elmer Beltejar, director of the Eastern Visayas regional police.

“Based on the fragments that were recovered, it was established that a cartridge of 81mm mortar were used through cellphones as detonator,” a report from Eastern Visayas regional police read.

Of the 32 injured, half of them had been released from the hospital as of yesterday afternoon, but the others had to be taken to various hospitals. “But they are now in stable condition,” said Beltejar.

The injured in the bombing at Plaza Rizal, Barangay Central Poblacion in Hilongos were identified by police as John Reynal Lamo,15; Vicente Nuñez, 24; Jessica Geli, 19; Ricardo Regaton, 53; Jun Rey Lumbre, 20; Aldrin Goltiano, 19; Joseph Ryan Bohol, 24; Domingo Oliva, 60;

Kevin Manicar, 13; Cristita Ano-Os, 47; Jay Miguel Liba, 11; Christian Lelis, 14; Letecia Liba, 55; Erwin Liba, 33; Rudy Bulfa, 33; Giselle Managbanag, 25; Elmer Rebullos, 27; King Michael Melgazo, 15; Leonilo Villaro, 28; Doroteo Libres, 50; Roselyn Lasmarias, 42;

Wilbert Fornis Alingasa, 14; Guillermo Solera, 24; Rogelio Managbanag, 26; Idinio Abes, 31; Marnilo Macarat Lusuegro; Marcelina Abina, 67; Joel Mamalak, 14; Judias, Mary Grace, 20; Christian Prado, 12; Chris Angel Abina, 7; and Jessie Abina, 32.

As of press time yesterday afternoon, six of them remained at the Hilongos District Hospital; five in Baptist Hospital, Hilongos, Leyte; two in Living Hope Hospital, Maasin City; and three in the Eastern Visayas Medical Center in Tacloban City.

PALAWAN BOMBED

Twenty hours before the fiesta attack, a similar improvised explosive ripped through a bakery in the town proper of Taytay town, in Palawan.

Bakery owner Jerald Ganje told local police that he was roused from sleep by the explosion at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Luckily, police reported there was no one injured in the bombing.

BOMB PLANTED IN TRUCK

In Cotabato, six people were wounded when a suspected IED went off in a delivery truck they were riding in at 9:20 p.m. along the national highway in Aleosan town.

The victims were identified as Amerol Musa Tantos, Hanep Alepa Ayon, Yahya Kasan, Pahmi Diamla, Johnny Amerol and Salman Tahir.

Supt. Romeo Galgo, spokesman of the Central Mindanao regional police, said they are yet to conduct investigation if it was a case of roadside bombing or if the bomb was planted inside the delivery truck which was supposed to deliver charcoal from Lanao del Sur to Davao City.

“We are still conducting investigation especially to identify the suspects. So far, it is too early to say if the explosion is connected to that in Leyte or to that in Palawan,” Galgo told the Manila Bulletin in a phone interview.

While bomb attacks are common in Cotabato, police admitted that the bombing in Leyte and Palawan are unlikely, noting that there is no history of terror attacks in the two areas.

DAVAO-BOUND TRUCK

According to Galgo, the truck which was hit by IED attack was supposed to deliver charcoal in Davao City.

It is not clear if the IED allegedly planted inside the truck prematurely went off as police were conducting investigation if the bomb was meant to be detonated in Davao City.

“Everything is not yet clear as of this time. We are waiting for the investigation report, especially from our bomb experts,” said Galgo.

Davao City, it was learned, is still recovering from the nightmarket bomb attack wherein 14 people died while more than 70 others were injured.

MAUTE GROUP?

For his part, Army Col. Benjamin Hao, Philippine Army spokesman, did not discount the involvement of the Maute Group just yet.

Asked if the Maute Group – suspected behind the Davao City bombing last September 2 which left 15 people dead and 71 others hurt – Hao replied: “According to our sources, pinag-aaralan pa nila (they are studying it).”

“They are looking at all possible angles,” said Hao. “The PNP, the intelligence community are currently gathering information on the incident.”

The Maute Group, which also goes by the name Islamic State in Lanao, is a radical Islamist group composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas and some foreign fighters led by Abdullah Maute, the alleged founder of Dawlah Islamiya, or Islamic state based in Lanao del Sur.

RELATED TO MIDSAYAP?

Still, the military has not made a connection between the latest bombings with the Davao blast or last Christmas Eve’s grenade explosion outside a church in Midsayap, Cotabato.

On Christmas Eve, at least 20 people, many of them churchgoers, were wounded when a grenade exploded 50 meters away from the Archdiocesan Shrine of Santo Nino in Poblacion-2 in Midsayap.

Authorities said the grenade was intended to who, just few days before the blast, arrested a barangay official in Midsayap town believed to be involved in drug trafficking.

Superintendent Bernard Tayong, Midsayap police chief, said investigators already have artist sketches of the suspects responsible for the incident.

AFP TO PUBLIC: STAY VIGILANT

Meanwhile, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Army Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, asked the public to be on alert, stay vigilant and to cooperate with security forces to ensure that “We keep our communities safe from whatever threats there are that are intended to destroy the peace and stability.”

He added based on the number of casualties provided to them, 32 were hurt as a result of the blast.

Padilla said only one of two IEDs exploded as per latest information coming from the PNP.

“Thank God there were no reported fatalities,” he said.

Padilla said that a probe is ongoing regarding the incident and so far no group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

DRUG-RELATED?

Beltejar told the Manila Bulletin that the bomb attack is indeed unlikely as far as Muslim extremism is concerned. But he said they are looking at a different angle.

“We are looking into some suspects, and we are also looking into a possible motive,” said Beltejar.

When pressed, he said the bomb attack may have something to do with the successful anti-drugs campaign in Eastern Visayas, particularly in Leyte.

It was recalled that the government has busted the biggest drug dring in Eastern Visayas with the arrest of Kerwin Espinosa and the arrest and eventual killing of his father, Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa.

THREAT IS REAL

Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor, director of the MIMAROPA (Mindoro provinces, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) regional police, said the bomb attack in Palawan appears to be a caase of threat.

“We believe that it has nothing to do with what happened in Leyte,” Mayor told the Manila Bulletin in a separate interview.

Like Leyte, Palawan has no history of terror attack although there is a small group of Moslem rebels occupying the southernmost part of the province.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by MANILA BULLETIN

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