Parang blast puzzles police

Investigators are still clueless on who was responsible for the bombing in Parang, Maguindanao on Sunday that left 22 people dead and several others wounded, including Mayor Vicencio Bataga.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Senior Superintendent Joel Goltiao admitted yesterday that investigators still cannot identify the suspects.

"We are still trying to work out with the (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) to establish the identities of the suspects in the bombing," Goltiao said in Filipino.

Goltiao said PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. flew to Maguindanao to personally assess the peace and order situation in the province following the bombing.

A total of 22 people were killed while 68 others were injured when a bomb exploded outside a jampacked gymnasium Sunday at the start of basketball game. The bomb attack was believed to have been meant to kill Bataga who is seeking re-election.

Bataga survived the blast and underwent surgery for 29 shrapnel wounds. He blamed perceived political enemies for the attack but did not identify them.

Goltiao said politics remain the strongest motive for the bombing, noting that Bataga has survived at least four attempts on his life.

ARMM police director Senior Superintendent Isnaji Bantala said they are still searching for witnesses who could positively identify the suspects, who are believed to have left the bomb-laden motorcycle at the entrance of the gym.

"We need the support of witnesses and the victims who can help us determine the identities of the people who brought the motorcycle there," Bantala said.

He said investigators have yet to gather the testimonies of the victims, most of whom are still in a "state of shock."

Bantala admitted the possibility that the bombing may be politically-motivated.

"Mayor Bataga (had) earlier survived at least three recent assassination attempts. We are not discounting the strong possibility that it was politically motivated," Bantala said.

Bantala also dismissed insinuations that the bombing was carried out by terrorists.

Sources from the military’s intelligence community, however, said the people behind the bombing could have enlisted newly-trained bomb experts of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"The type of the home-made explosive used in the attack was a signature improvised explosive of the MILF, so identical with those used in different retaliatory attacks after the fall of Camp Abubakar in 2000 and the military’s capture of the Buliok Complex in February 2003," one of the sources said without elaborating. – With John Unson