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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippines claims Labor Day bomb plot foiled |
| 2006-05-02 |
| DESPITE lack of evidence, police claimed to have thwarted an alleged plan by communist insurgents and rebel soldiers to bomb this yearÂ’s Labor Day rallies after they arrested five suspected leftist guerrillas in Cavite province last week. The alleged communist insurgents, identified as Aries Sarmiento or Ka Narsing, Marvin Galang or Jofel and Kelly, Axel Alejandro Pinpin or Andoy, and Riel Ramos Custodio or Gerald, and their driver, a suspected asset of the New PeopleÂ’s Army, were arrested in the vicinity of Sungay village in Tagaytay City some 56 kilometers south of Manila at around 6 p.m. Friday, said Senior Superintendent Aaron Fidel, Calabarzon police intelligence chief. But no explosives were recovered from the suspects although receipts for the purchase of bomb components were seized from them, admitted Chief Superintendent Prospero Noble, regional police commander for Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon). Also seized from the suspects were electronic devices containing documents, some of which allegedly showed in detail the protesters' programs during Labor Day, a map of the region, and mobile phones that also purportedly showed an exchange of text messages between those arrested and members of the right-wing Magdalo rebel group, police officials said. The police however did not identify the messages' senders. "There was none," Noble said, when asked if the alleged May 1 bomb plot was mentioned in the documents. "What is significant here is that the exploitation of recovered documents and disks, there appears to be a link between the so-called Magdalo forces together with the CPP-NPA and some sectoral organizations," Director General Arturo Lomibao, Philippine National Police chief, told a news conference Monday. Lomibao also noted that the evidence linking the alleged communists to the rightist elements was an alleged claim by one of the five suspects that he had met with Army First Lieutenant Lawrence San Juan, a member of the Magdalo group that staged the July 27, 2003 mutiny. San Juan was arrested February 24, 2006. "There were plans for this May 1 celebrationÂ… They were coordinating instructions what to do during the celebration," Lomibao said but refused to elaborate. "We have opened only two documents and we recovered many," Lomibao added. Police pulled over the suspects who were driving a box-type Mitsubishi Lancer, as one of them was allegedly wanted for the recent killing of an Army soldier, said Fidel, Calabarzon police chief. Receipts for the purchase of several kilos of ammonium nitrate and 8,000 pieces of metal balls, allegedly intended for use as bomb shrapnels, flash drives, and several subversive documents were seized from the suspects, Fidel confirmed. The group was allegedly on its way to Talisay town in Batangas province for a meeting with NPA comrades, Fidel said. Sarmiento is the alleged secretary general of the NPA in Cavite province. Galang allegedly met with San Juan while he was in hiding, Fidel said. Metro Manila police chief Director Vidal Querol said the bomb threat on the Labor Day rallies brought to mind the leftist orchestrated attack on Plaza Miranda in September 2001. "They have done it before, and at the right time and for the right reasons, they can do it again," he said. In an interview with reporters, Sarmiento denied he was an NPA member. He said he worked as a researcher for Cavite Representative Crispin Remulla. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said last week that a few members of its local chapter in Cavite had gone missing. Some of them were among those arrested, a police report confirmed. KMP spokesman Carl Ala decried what he called another attempt by government to link his group and forces under the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan to the NPA and the Magdalo rebel group. Thousands of militants took to the streets on Monday, Labor Day, to press for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and demand a wage increase. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |