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| Southeast Asia |
| Cops closing in on Makati boomers |
| 2005-02-20 |
| Police are closing in on two of the three suspects in the Valentine's Day bombing in Makati City that killed four people and wounded 103 others. The Philippine National Police chief, Director General Edgar B. Aglipay, said after a meeting Saturday with the Southern Police District director, Chief Supt. Wilfredo Garcia, in Camp Crame that the arrest of the suspects is imminent. Aglipay said the PNP knows the suspects' identities and whereabouts. He would not give further details, for fear of compromising the manhunt. "We have to get more evidence and look deeper into the incident. We want to make sure we are arresting the right people," he said in an interview. Information on the suspects was provided by a man who turned himself in after his conscience troubled him. Earlier, the Metro Manila police chief, Director Avelino I. Razon Jr., said the witness, who was identified only as Francisco, is very credible and knew about past operations of the group that carried out the attack. Razon would not give details on the three suspects except to say that they "are not foreigners." The Department of National Defense declined comment on speculations that the bomb used in the Makati bombing might have come from the military. Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz asked for patience, saying it is better for everybody to wait for the result of the police investigation instead of indulging in wild guesses. "We should not speculate. Let us give the police more leeway to gather enough evidence and complete their investigation," Cruz told reporters. He said the Armed Forces has no plans to do an inventory on its supplies and will wait for the results of the police investigation. Traces of TNT and the plastic explosive C-4 were found at the scene of the bombing near the intersection of Ayala Avenue and EDSA. Cruz said the explosives, like TNT, could come from many sources, not only the military, and that if investigators can find the serial number of the bomb used in Makati it can easily be traced from its source. He said action would be taken if the results of the investigation showed that the bomb or its components came from the military. Garcia had linked the Makati bombing to the discovery of bomb components in Parañaque City, 10 hours before the blast. He said four dynamite sticks, C-4 and blasting caps were found Monday morning in front of Triumph Co., on East Service Road in Barangay Martin de Porres. The explosives were in a plastic bag left by two men on a motorcycle. "The explosives in Parañaque were intended for another bombing, but we were able to prevent it. Had the suspects managed to detonate the explosives, it would have caused a much bigger blast than that in Makati," Garcia said. The three bombings have been claimed by the Abu Sayyaf, an armed Muslim militant group engaged in bombings and kidnappings in Mindanao. It is on the US State Department's blacklist of "foreign terrorist organizations." The group firebombed a passenger ferry on Manila Bay nearly a year ago, killing more than 100 people in the deadliest terrorist attack in the country. An Abu Sayyaf spokesman earlier said the Valentine's Day bombings were to avenge an offensive against Muslim rebels in Jolo. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |