Cop, 25 MILF suspects

Police have arrested a Manila policeman and 25 suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels allegedly trained in bomb making on suspicion of involvement in recent explosions at two shopping malls in Metro Manila.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Panfilo Lacson said yesterday the suspects were rounded up early Saturday during simultaneous raids on three safehouses inside Maharlika Village in Bicutan, Taguig.

The raids were conducted by joint agents of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, the National Capital Region Police Office and the Philippine Army.

Lacson said the suspects, who will be charged with murder and attempted murder, have not admitted involvement in the bombings.

He apologized to journalists yesterday for leading them to believe that the bombers belonged to a rightist political group.

Several days ago, Lacson said he doubted that the mall bombings were the handiwork of Muslim rebels. Instead he blamed rightists trying to create political instability.

Some quarters speculated that the PNP itself was responsible for the bombings.

Lacson said the MILF was the main suspect all along but a cover had to be made so as not to jeopardize intelligence operations.

"In intelligence work, there will always be secrets and deception. I apologize for deceiving you and downplaying the role of the MILF," Lacson said.

Two top MILF leaders -- chairman Hashim Salamat and vice chairman for military affairs Al Haj Murad -- will also be charged, Lacson said.

"We are filing charges on the principle of the theory of conspiracy," Lacson said. "That's why we are filing charges against all known leaders and members of the MILF."

The explosions at the Glorietta mall in Makati City last May 17 and SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City five days later, which killed one person and wounded at least 24 others, have set the metropolis on edge, with many residents shunning malls and movie theaters. The stock market and peso have fallen to 19-month lows, and security has been tightened at many public places.

One of the suspects, Abdul Muhamad, was identified by SM security guard John Molina as the person who brought a plastic soft drink cup into a movie theater shortly before a bomb exploded there on May 21, killing a janitor and injuring at least 14 other people, Lacson said.

Molina was on duty at SM Cinema 6 when the bomb, placed near a comfort room, exploded and killed Evan Calumba. The explosive used in the bomb is believed to be a derivative of the water-resistant C4 plastic explosive, making it possible to be smuggled in a soft drink cup.

Two other suspects -- Abdullah Butuan and Abdulaji Mangco -- were identified by teenagers as having been in the area of the Glorietta mall where a bomb exploded May 17, injuring 13.

In the raids on the three houses in Taguig, authorities recovered two pistols with defaced serial numbers, a rifle, magazines for an M-16 rifle, blasting caps, a 28-inch detonating cord, electrical cords, batteries, timers, nails, airgun pellets, and a roll of packing tape, Lacson said.

An MILF spokesman, Eid Kabalu, had previously denied any involvement in the blasts.

But Lacson said at least six of the suspects had been trained in explosives at Camp Abubakar, the headquarters of the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group.

He said the alleged bombers arrived in Metro Manila from Camp Abubakar last February.

The other suspects were identified as Ali Samad, a police officer assigned to the Western Police District (WPD); Musib Ayunan, Giamila Guimla, Jiamad Beusan, Samad Guialoson, Masukat Tumindeg Tambi, Noel Mamalumba, Nardo Ebus, Bryan Alpha, Alvin Mangco, Tonqui Jamah, Abash Sinumandal;

Santiago Kandungan, Christopher Pastor, Macalma Munda, Rene Tumindo, Alimudin Tumindo, Bhuts Elis, Arnel Masi, Suharto Maguing, Datu Amirol, Akmad Abdul and Alih Triqui.

Lacson said Muhamad, the Megamall bombing suspect, joined the MILF in 1981 and underwent extensive explosive and ordnance training in Malaysia.

He became a member of the MILF's Special Operations Group and allegedly participated in the 1984 assassination of an Army officer in Maguindanao.

Muhamad underwent further explosives training in Camp Abubakar before being ordered to conduct bombing operations in Metro Manila.

Based on intelligence reports, Ayunan and Guimla trained with Muhamad and accompanied him to Metro Manila for the bombing missions.

SPO3 Samad is an alleged MILF supporter and the group's arms and explosives supplier.

WPD director Chief Superintendent Avelino Razon Jr. said he has already ordered his men to review the record of Samad, who is detailed at the WPD station in Sta. Mesa.

The station has partial jurisdiction over the district's Islamic center.

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Jejomar Binay has activated an inter-agency panel to assist law enforcers in managing the peace and order situation in the wake of increasing incidence of bomb threats in the metropolis.

The mobilization of the Metro Manila Disaster Coordinating Council (MMDCC) came in response to the growing apprehension among the people following last week's bomb blasts at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City and at the Glorietta shopping mall in Makati City.

Binay, who heads the MMDCC with National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Superintendent Edgardo Aglipay as co-chairman, also met with local government officials in the metropolis, along with representatives of pertinent government agencies, to discuss security measures relative to the bomb threats.

"What we wish to avoid here is having any incident blown out of proportion and causing the public undue worries," Binay said.

As agreed upon, the MMDCC will deal with any contingencies through the existing local disaster coordinating councils (DCCs) co-chaired by the mayors and their respective police directors.

The DCCs will set up command posts in strategic areas to ensure quick response to emergencies.

The command posts will be responsible for relaying pertinent information to the MMDCC in order for the panel to immediately come up with police assistance and other resources to emergency situations.

Binay said the MMDCC's actions will depend on the gravity of the situation to prevent over-reaction that may only exacerbate public apprehensions.

"This arrangement will localize the effects, as much as possible, of any threat to public safety," Binay said.

MMDA's Metro Base will serve as a 24-hour monitoring and communications center of the MMDCC.

Meanwhile, Interior and Local Government Secretary Alfredo Lim directed all local government executives to intensify their participation in the fight against violence and terrorism in the country.

Lim directed the town and city mayors and provincial governors to come up with their respective master plans to "protect lives, enhance public safety, maintain the stability of government, safeguard democratic institutions and promote a unified direction for all public safety plans."

Lim also ordered the local officials to convene their peace and order councils (POCs) to undertake a thorough assessment of the peace and order situation in their respective communities.

The POCs were told to closely monitor the implementation of their counter-insurgency plan of action as drawn up by the Integrated area-Community Public Safety Plan.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Andrew Gonzalez said public school teachers will have the additional task of searching the students' bags for any concealed explosive.

Gonzalez said unlike most private schools, public schools do not have their own security guards.

"We now have a policy in all public schools that before anyone is allowed entry, there will be searches," Gonzalez said.

"I apologize in advance because this is inconvenient and irritating. But I think for the sake of safety, the bags will have to be inspected," he added.

In another development, WPD director Razon directed his men to be extra vigilant against potential terrorists and saboteurs.

Razon issued the order following the military's recent assault on Camp Bushra of the MILF in Maguindanao, one of the rebel group's major headquarters.

The MILF hierarchy has warned that if the military attacks its camp, it would retaliate with terrorist acts, not only in Mindanao, but also in Metro Manila.

The intelligence community also said the MILF has forged a tactical alliance with the New People's Army and rightist elements, and may soon launch its so-called "maximum impact" operations by attacking military detachments, police substations and municipal halls in Metro Manila as well as Rizal and Laguna provinces.

The military has also launched a massive information campaign on bomb threat procedures.

The Armed Forces' Office of Chemical and Ordnance Service conducted a symposium on the matter at the Office of the Rizal Commercial and Banking Corp. in Makati City last Thursday upon the request of the bank's security force.

Discussions at the symposium focused on sabotage, potential targets and motives of terrorists and distribution, types and effects of explosives.

Officials and personnel of the bank were also apprised on the do's and don'ts in case of bomb threats.

For her part, Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz-Araneta downplayed the effects of the spate of bombing incidents nationwide on the country's tourism industry.

"I am confident that the situation would be immediately addressed and solved through the effective leadership of President Estrada," Araneta said in a radio interview.

Araneta issued the statement even as her department reported a five-percent decline in tourist arrivals from April to May.

Davao City alone claimed that it lost $1.3 million in tourism revenues due to the cancellation of plane flights following the bomb attacks and renewed hostilities between Muslim rebels and government troops. -- By Mike Frialde, with reports from Jose Aravilla, AP, AFP,