The Batasan bomb attack was more daring but easier to investigate than the Glorietta 2 blast because investigators didn’t have to deal with substances and chemicals that were alien to them, a ranking police official said yesterday.
The Batasan blast last Tuesday killed Rep. Wahab Akbar and three House employees while the Glorietta 2 explosion last month left 11 people dead and more than a hundred wounded.
“Chemicals like methane were alien and unusual to our police investigators. But when it comes to explosives, IED and crimes, these are part of our training and day-to-day activities,” National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Geary Barias said.
Barias made the assertion as police gained headway in its probe of the Batasan blast with the gunslaying of three suspected Abu Sayyaf members and the arrest of three others during a raid at their alleged safehouse in Payatas, Quezon City last Thursday.
Police said they now consider the Batasan case solved “but not yet closed” as they have yet to file appropriate charges against the suspects and arrest the mastermind and other suspects.
As to the investigation into the Glorietta 2 blast, Barias said the Multi-Agency Investigation Task Force finalized its report yesterday and is set to make it public on Monday.
Barias declined to comment if the findings to be revealed on Monday would be different from their initial announcement that the blast was accidental and triggered by a buildup of methane and diesel fumes in a poorly ventilated mall basement.
Barias recalled that shortly after the Glorietta 2 blast, policemen and bomb experts scoured the blast site but failed to find traces of explosives.
“Investigators failed to go down the basement because we were not sure if the structure will give in or not. Experts managed to visit the basement later,” Barias.
Barias, however, assured the public of the PNP’s commitment to get to the bottom of the two incidents.
In the case of the Batasan explosion, Barias said investigators immediately detected the presence of explosive substances like pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and trinitrotoluene or TNT at the blast site.
Police also easily concluded that the explosive device was attached to a motorcycle parked in the driveway of the south wing lobby of the Batasan building.
The parked motorcycle exploded as congressmen left the building. The chassis number of the vehicle was recovered and corresponded with a deed of sale found at the hideout of the Abu Sayyaf suspects.
Barias said this was a major breakthrough in the investigation of the bombing.
“This is material evidence to link this group with the House (of Representatives) incident,” said Barias, adding that police did not yet know who had masterminded the attack.
“If we can get information from the three arrested suspects, we will have follow-up operations,” Barias said without elaborating.
Police said earlier it was likely the bombers positioned the motorcycle bomb to target Akbar, citing evidence it was detonated remotely by mobile phone.
Barias also debunked speculations that the blast was meant to terrorize and had no specific target. He said pieces of evidence gathered from the blast site indicated that the attack targeted personnel.
“The use of remote control as the bomb’s triggering device indicated that the bomber waited for the target. Otherwise, the bombers would just leave the bomb with the timing device set at the time when most of the congressmen and their staff were leaving the premises,” Barias explained.
Meanwhile, Sen. Miriam Santiago also doused speculations that the blasts at the Batasan and Glorietta 2 were related and part of destabilization efforts against the Arroyo administration.
“We have not yet established a pattern. The recent findings even by foreign police teams were that the Ayala blast was caused by an industrial failure,” Santiago said.
On the Batasan blast, Santiago said it also appeared to be an isolated case. “We just have to wait for other senators and congressmen to be assassinated by bombing so that we can declare that there is a pattern of assassination that already indicates terrorism,” she said. “Before that, we cannot draw any conclusion,” Santiago said. – With Christina Mendez