Palace tags Abu in Jolo bombing

Abu Sayyaf extremists or other groups opposed to the ongoing RP-US "Balikatan 02-1" exercises in Mindanao may be responsible for the grenade attacks Saturday in Jolo, Sulu and Zamboanga City, Palace officials said yesterday.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao blamed "inefficient intelligence" for the blasts which resulted in the death of five people and wounding of 40 others in Jolo and the wounding of at least four people in Zamboanga City.

Tiglao made the remark in a telephone interview with Palace reporters a day after National Security Adviser Roilo Golez asserted the blasts may have been the handiwork of "ultra-militant groups" protesting the conduct of the RP-US "Balikatan 02-1" war exercises.

"The deployment of military troops and the police is quite adequate in the area (and) the standing order of the President is to intensify the intelligence cooperation between the law enforcement agencies," Tiglao said.

But Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Leandro Mendoza refuted Tiglao’s assessment and said police intelligence has been alerted for possible attacks in urban areas and "suspected threat groups are being monitored closely."

"We are trying to conduct some evaluation on the source of these activities," Mendoza said at the annual alumni homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in Baguio City.

"We have no problem actually in the monitoring," Mendoza said even as the military and police beefed up security measures in Zamboanga City, the temporary headquarters of US troops participating in the Balikatan exercises.

However, Golez, who was also in Baguio City for the PMA homecoming, said it would be an exercises in futility if the bombings were indeed meant to "sabotage" the Balikatan exercises.

"We are trying to impress upon them that there is no way that they can do that because Balikatan will continue," Golez said.

"We have to do our share if we are to fight international terrorism wherever it happens. We must fight our one homegrown terrorism here and the best way to do that is by enhancing the capability of the AFP in fighting international terrorism," he added.

He said that instead of sabotaging the military exercises, the blasts actually strengthened popular support for the war games.

"In fact, the incident even strengthened the need for Balikatan because Balikatan is against terrorism," he said.

But the authorities are clearly still at a loss on who were behind the blasts.

"These (attacks) could be the handiwork of either criminal groups or terrorist groups," said Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, who was also in Baguio City for the PMA homecoming.

Reyes said the explosions would not affect the Balikatan exercises, which are "now in full swing" and are expected to "proceed as programmed and without any hitches."

He also said the authorities have not established any link between the blasts in Jolo and Zamboanga City and the attempted bombing in the state-run University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato.

In Zamboanga City, authorities fielded more plainclothes policemen and augmented police and military presence in the downtown area as well as at the Mindpro Citimall where a grenade was hurled inside a movie house.

Police were detailed to back up security personnel Mindpro, on La Purisima street near the police headquarters, where four people were wounded during Saturday’s grenade blast.

Zamboanga City police intelligence head Chief Inspector Jose Bayani Gucela told Reuters the blast may be politically motivated but did not elaborate.

"Most probably... this is a political message," Gucela said.

"Our intelligence report is that the Abu Sayyaf will conduct bombings and kidnappings in Zamboanga," said police officer Abdul Ghafoor Maani.

Asked if the blast was linked to the deployment of US troops, Maani said it appeared to be a part of a general plan to "destabilize the peace and order situation."

In Jolo, Army Col. Romeo Tolentino said authorities were still investigating two possible angles to the explosions at the busy market where five people were killed and 40 others injured.

"Nobody has claimed responsibility for this horror," Tolentino said. "It could be an act of retaliation by gangs operating extortion activities at public markets. The other possibility is it could be a diversionary attack of the Abu Sayyaf." - With reports from Roel Pareño, Artemio Dumlao