Gov’t on heightened alert after CDO blast

MANILA, Philippines - The government placed troops and police on heightened alert yesterday after a restaurant attack killed six in Cagayan de Oro City, but said there were no leads yet on the perpetrators.

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II said investigators were reconstructing the bomb site to gather more clues on Friday night’s attack in Cagayan de Oro, a relatively peaceful city in Mindanao, where various rebel groups and armed gangs operate.

“We are doing everything (to get the suspects). We have placed the police in Mindanao, the intelligence community and the Army on heightened alert to prevent a similar attack,” Roxas said over dzBB radio.

Investigators have yet to determine the explosive used in the attack, which hit a bistro packed with at least 100 people. Most were doctors and pharmaceutical representatives who had just attended a national convention at a nearby hotel.

Forty-eight others were wounded in the blast, police said.

Contrary to earlier reports, Roxas said investigators had not found shrapnel or metal fragments at the blast site, which would have indicated an explosive device made from a mortar bomb.

“According to the doctors who did the autopsy report, there were no shrapnel that can be attributed to a grenade explosion,” Roxas said.

“It is also not an IED (improvised explosive device) made from mortar or artillery shell,” he said.

Ordnance experts have found wires and a battery that could have been used as a trigger but not much else.

Roxas’s statement suggested the attack may not have been the work of Muslim militants who operate in other parts of the south and are known to use mortar bombs rigged to a timing device.

Asked whether investigators were looking at any specific group behind the blast and what the motive could be, he said: “If it’s business rivalry, fighting over land, or terrorism we could not say yet until we know all the facts and details.”

Cagayan de Oro is a bustling city that has been relatively unscathed by a decades-old Muslim and communist insurgency that have plagued parts of the south in this largely Catholic country.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country’s largest Muslim insurgent force, said Sunday it had no forces operating near Cagayan de Oro and condemned the attack as un-Islamic.

The MILF, which is negotiating a peace deal with Manila, was also willing to help track down the perpetrators if asked by the government, said the group’s vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar.

“We have an existing agreement to help each other out in interdicting criminal elements,” Jaafar told AFP

Reconstructing blast site

Presidential deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte yesterday said Malacañang “will defer to the investigation. It would not be prudent for us at this point to make any comment on any supposed motive while the investigation is ongoing.”

She said authorities are “trying to reconstruct now the crime scene” after the owners of the place were allowed to clean it up even before clearance was given by the police.

Roxas became frustrated after learning the scene of the explosion had been cleaned up, she said, and that he lectured city police chief Senior Superintendent Graciano Mejares on how to properly investigate bombing incidents.

Roxas reported the development to President Aquino, who is personally monitoring the progress of the investigation.

“It’s his (Roxas) call on how he will handle that. And that is true, it seems the secretary had strong words... after finding out that the crime scene had already been cleaned even before clearance was given,” Valte said.

Valte downplayed allegations of sabotage in light of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit over the weekend.

“While there may be speculations to that effect, we will not make any comment yet.”

Valte said President Aquino condemned the attack and called it an “act of senseless violence.”

“This is why the President immediately ordered an investigation and ensure that the investigation is thorough, that the processes are followed to the letter, so that we can identify who were the ones who did it and bring them to the bars of justice,” she said. 

‘An act of cowardice’

Roxas described the bombing attack as an “act of cowardice.”

“This was a heinous crime, an act of cowardice. If the attacker is angry at a person, why didn’t he just dare his enemy in a fistfight. But if you will place a bomb in a crowded area when even innocent people will be hurt, that’s an act of terrorism,” Roxas said in a radio interview yesterday.

Aside from the various units of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Roxas said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is now helping investigate the incident.

Roxas said there could be several angles but investigators will have to follow the trail of evidence to identify the attacker.

He said he has instructed investigators to identify the specific location of victims and their wounds, which could lead to the center of the attack.

“It’s like identifying the crater to find out what type of explosives (were used),” he said.

“We are now in the middle of investigation and we will make sure to find a conclusion to this. We won’t allow anyone to just have a bomb exploded, kill and injure innocent people,” Roxas said.

He said investigators are also conducting profiling on all the victims of the bombing. He said this would be necessary to determine if anyone of them was the target of the attack.

“We really can’t tell until we know all the facts and details,” he added.

‘Are the attacks directed to doctors?’

Initial investigation showed the explosion was possibly caused by an improvised explosive device that was planted at Kyla’s Bistro and Candy’s Café at the Rosa Rio Arcade in Limketkai Center.

The bomb went off during the busiest time where many people were spending their Friday nights.

Among those killed was Misamis Oriental provincial board member Roldan Lagbas who was hit in the head.

The other fatalities were identified as lawyer Antonio Paredes, doctor Erwin Malanay, and pharmaceutical representatives Manny Palafox, Anthony Cañete, and Ryan Saso Estose.

Many of the wounded were representatives of pharmaceutical companies who were attending the midyear convention of the Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP).

Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president Leo Olarte said the World Medical Association (WMA) is now inquiring whether it is still safe to send medical professionals in the country following the bombing.

“Because we don’t know the motives of the bombing yet and medical professionals were among the casualties, the WMA is concerned for the safety of the foreign doctors in traveling to the Philippines,” Olarte revealed yesterday.

Olarte noted members of the WMA are visiting the country regularly to attend conferences, summits, and other activities of the PMA.

He said most of the foreign doctors going to the country are from Japan, United States, Europe, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

But Olarte stressed WMA is not yet recommending a travel ban to the Philippines among its members.

“That would depend on our (PMA) position. Are the attacks directed to doctors? Are they directed to politicians? Or is it meant to disturb the peace process? We have to know first,” Olarte explained.

The PMA called on Secretary Roxas to immediately resolve the case or at least identify the motive behind the blast.

Olarte said they needed to know the motive so they will know what measures to take if results of the investigation would reveal that medical professionals were really the targets of the attack.

Regional military spokesman Lt. Col. Leo Bongosia has given assurance a joint investigation with the police is ongoing to identify the suspects behind the bombing.

Bongosia said except for the threat on the life of Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno, they have not monitored any serious security concern in the city.

On the other hand, Davao City has been placed on heightened alert following the blast.

Davao City Police Office chief Senior Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa said contingency measures have been put in place.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ordered to beef up security in the city.

Butuan City also tightened security following the bombing.

The city suffered a nine-hour power outage just hours after the attack. – With Gerry Lee Gori, Mayen Jaymalin, Edith Regalado, Ben Serrano