PNP: Batasan blast solved
With the killing of three suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits and the arrest of three others in a police raid in Payatas,
“The case is considered solved but not yet closed. It is solved because we now have a better understanding of what happened, and maybe also of the motive,” Metro police chief Director Geary Barias announced at a press conference at Camp Crame yesterday.
“We can’t consider it closed because we have yet to file charges against the suspects and we have yet to identify the mastermind,” Barias added.
A ranking police officer who declined to be named told The STAR that they have already gathered information that could help them identify the mastermind and other suspects in the blast, which killed Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar and three House employees.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. credited concerned citizens and dedicated investigators for the breakthrough in the blast probe.
“I want to commend all the members of the operating units for this major breakthrough. This accomplishment was made 48 hours after the attack,” Razon said.
Razon said the three arrested suspects – Khaidar Awnal, Ikram Indama and Adham Kusain – have been cooperative although their statements could not be taken as evidence yet in the absence of lawyers. The Public Attorney’s Office is expected to provide legal counsel for the suspects.
Razon presented to the media some pieces of evidence recovered from the suspects’ safehouse at
The evidence include a t-shirt and a jacket with the logo of the House of Representatives, deed of sale for the motorcycle that was believed to have carried the explosive device, two driver’s licenses, identification cards, motorcycle license plate (IE-2549), motorcycle certificate of registration, nine cell phones, four toy cars, bio-data of Abdulla Janjil, and a calling card of former Basilan Rep. Gerry Salapuddin.
Razon said the police were trying to meet the 36-hour deadline for the filing of charges against the suspects. He said the initial charges would be based on their participation in an encounter with the joint police-military raiding team last Thursday.
The encounter erupted when the security personnel tried to serve an arrest warrant for kidnapping and illegal abduction on Pakir Said alias Abu Jandal at an alleged Abu Sayyaf safehouse in Payatas,
The firefight left Andal, Redwan Idaman, and his wife Saing dead. One of the three arrested suspects was Ikram Indama, former driver of Salappudin.
“Investigators have yet to determine the charges against the suspects in connection with the Batasan complex blast,” Razon pointed out.
PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Samuel Pagdilao, who is a lawyer, said the three suspects could be charged for the death of their three companions or for illegal possession of firearms and resisting arrest.
A source said the suspects would not be charged under the Human Security Act of 2007 or the anti-terror law as this might only complicate matters.
Razon also stressed the evidence and information gathered were not enough to link Salappudin to the blast.
“We are taking these things (allegations) into consideration. However, that is not enough basis to conduct a probe on former Congressman Salapuddin. Mere association could not be a ground for an investigation. We need to have more (information),” Razon pointed out.
Tipped off
Razon said it was a tip-off from a concerned citizen that led police to the Payatas hideout of Jandal and the other Abu Sayyaf suspects.
“Our men from the CIDG led by Senior Supt. Asher Dolina immediately formed a unit to check the veracity of the report and to check the person’s link to the attack in the Batasan complex,” Razon added. CIDG stands for Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
Razon said records revealed that Jandal was the subject of three warrants of arrest issued by Basilan Regional Trial Court Judge Danilo Bucoy on three different occasions.
Razon said Jandal was also on the most wanted listed of the Department of Interior and Local Government. Razon said the evidence against the suspects was strong.
“Evidence will not lie. The registration of the motorcycle and the manufacturer affirmed the motorcycle with bar code 0662033339 and chassis XRM-066-203-339,” he added.
The PNP chief also disclosed that the motorcycle helmet recovered from the safehouse was identified by a security guard at the House of Representatives as the one used by Jandal when he entered the Batasan complex hours before the attack.
“The guard, who was taken by the police to the encounter site, identified Indama as the one who wore the helmet,” Razon said.
Party-list solon’s cousin
Redwan Indama, one of the men slain in the Payatas raid, turned out to be a Basilan councilor and cousin of Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Mujiv Hataman. But the lawmaker denied that his “third cousin” was an Abu Sayyaf member.
“He ran and won as municipal councilor of Tipo-Tipo. But he is not an Abu Sayyaf member,” he insisted. He admitted that Redwan was a member of the Moro National Liberation Front.
Hataman’s brother Jim is a known political enemy of Akbar, but the Muslim party-list lawmaker said their rift was strictly political.
“Despite the differences that might have ensued between our families, the friendship that we shared when he first ran for governor and the few years after he won was enough to limit our scuffle in the political arena, and never at a personal level,” he said.
“The extent of the incident is too immense to just dismiss it as a personal act. Other possibilities, especially in light of the current political crisis, must not be discounted,” Hataman said.
Meanwhile, Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon said the deaths of some of the suspects could be considered a setback for the probe. “With the PNP having an encounter with the alleged perpetrators of the Batasan bombing and killing them, we may never know the complete story of the bombing,” he said.
“Dead men tell no tales. But the encounter raises a question – why did it take the PNP only now to serve the warrant of arrest against Jandal?” he asked. “Could it be said that if the warrant was served earlier, the bombing could have been thwarted?”
Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza said the raid only “raised many questions.”
“It smells fishy considering context and motive. Malacañang is itself a suspect. We also criticize GMA for telling us not to speak on the issue. She has no right to give us gag order,” the militant lawmaker said.
Tighter control on ordnance
President Arroyo has ordered the PNP to strictly enforce existing laws and regulations on the possession and use of explosives even as she appealed to the public to avoid speculating on who should be blamed for the Batasan carnage.
“The President has instructed (PNP Director) Gen. (Avelino) Razon to tighten its enforcement of regulations on the possession and use of explosives and intensify the campaign against illegal possession of explosives,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye told reporters.
“Let’s avoid speculations and wait for the final report of the PNP,” he said.
Mrs. Arroyo earlier urged lawmakers to immediately pass a proposed bill making the illegal possession of explosives non-bailable and punishable by life imprisonment. Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo Antonino, chairman of the committee on public order and safety, filed the bill.
“Our message must be clear: if you are armed and kill civilians, you will be prosecuted. If you are a communist terrorist, religious terrorist or even a rogue element of our own police or military, we will stop you,” she told business leaders earlier this week.
No need to worry
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago asked her colleagues not to be cowed by security concerns if they really love their country.
“I don’t think there should be cause for concern among the senators and congressmen since they are always declaiming about their love of country. More often love of country is illustrated by young men who go off and sacrifice their lives in the battlefront, so I don’t see why very old people or middle aged people should be so afraid to die for their country when young people are automatically shipped to die for their country,” Santiago said in an interview.
“So I am counseling everyone in the Congress: wait until you get assassinated. Then we shall know whether this is terrorist or whether this is just assassination,”
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