Ping trims down list of bomb suspects

The country's top cop has narrowed down the list of rightists suspected of bombing the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City and the Glorietta mall in Makati City.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Panfilo Lacson said no policeman was involved and neither was the rightist military group Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM) of Sen. Gregorio Honasan.

But rumors that the mall bombings in Metro Manila were being orchestrated by the government to justify an imposition of martial law continued to persist even though President Estrada had said he felt no need to declare a state of emergency.

Another rightist military group, the Young Officers Union (YOU), claimed the other day that Lacson's men were behind the bombings. The explosions, they said, would culminate in "something big" during the elections next year.

Lacson denied the allegation. "We can't be the ones to be accused of that because we are the ones investigating the bombings," he told The STAR in an interview yesterday.

Lacson also denied implicating the RAM, stressing that he never mentioned the organization when he said last Monday that a rightist political group was involved in the mall bombings.

But feeling alluded to, Honasan quickly denied the RAM's involvement. Honasan led seven failed coup attempts against former President Corazon Aquino. Lacson met with the senator yesterday to patch things up.

PNP spokesman Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome yesterday clarified Lacson's statement. "We are still looking at a group with a political agenda to destabilize the government. But when we say rightist, we don't immediately connect it to the military," he told reporters. Lacson earlier said the group supported protests against President Estrada's plan last year to amend the Constitution.

But Bartolome did say that it's still too early to tell if the RAM was indeed not to blame.

But Lacson's nemesis and former colleague, Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya, a RAM member, accused Lacson of pointing to the group to "cover up his inadequacies."

Although President Estrada said he felt no need to declare a state of emergency, two members of the opposition Lakas-NUCD couldn't help fearing a government conspiracy.

Bohol Rep. Ernesto Herrera believes that the mall bombings were the work of misguided police or military elements. "Those behind (the bombings) do not really want to kill. They just want to terrorize," he said.

Lakas-NUCD spokesman Hernando Perez said they are "watching closely for convincing signals" indicating that the Estrada administration will resort to martial law.

"We don't want that to happen but with all these orchestrated actions, I can't help but remember 1972," the former congressman said, referring to the rash of bombings in Metro Manila that preceded Ferdinand Marcos's martial law declaration on Sept. 21, 1972.

Perez also criticized the government for blaming the bombings on anti-Charter change groups. "Everytime they come short of answers, they point to the opposition as suspect."

Leftist labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) suspects that the bombings were meant to build "a backdrop for the (2001 midterm) elections' postponement and thereby facilitate an extension in the terms of incumbent senators and congressmen, especially those under the administration party, LAMP."

"There are already deliberate manueverings on the part of Congress to revive (Charter change)," KMU leader Crispin Beltran said.

LAMP senators Aquilino Pimentel, John Osmeña and Majority Leader Francisco Tatad filed the other day a resolution amending the Charter to adopt a federal system of government.

Such a system, they said, would give Mindanao's Muslims a much greater say in government.

The President renewed yesterday his call for vigilance a day after going on national television urging the public to remain calm.

Speaking at the 102nd anniversary of the Philippine Navy in Manila, Mr. Estrada reassured Filipinos that law enforcement agencies were capable of ending the bombings and vowed no compromise with terrorists.

"We live under one flag, one Constitution, one government -- and no matter what happens, that is how it will always be," he said.

Meanwhile, long-time administration critic Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo (LAMP) yesterday gave unsolicited advice, saying the government should speak with one voice on the investigation on the bombing spree to help calm the public's nerves.

The maverick congressman pointed out that the military and the PNP were at odds on those responsible for the bombings.

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado suspects the Muslim rebels while Lacson blames a rightist group.

"The people are confounded and confused because the government, instead of giving the public comprehensible and intelligent information on the spate of serial bombings is feeding the public with incoherent and muddled theories," Arroyo said in a statement.

He wondered why the country's top spy agency, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), "has been ominously silent" on the situation.

"The idea behind NICA is to prevent credit-grabbing, buck-passing and grandstanding. NICA cannot speak publicly, it speaks through the National Security Director or the President himself. The government thus speaks with one voice on national security matters like this spate of bombings," Arroyo said.

Yesterday Lacson relieved Eastern Police District (EPD) Chief Superintendent Rowland Albano of his command for the Megamall bombing. The country's largest shopping mall is in Albano's district.

Albano was replaced by Senior Superintendent Simeon Dizon, deputy for administration of the Northern Police District. It is not yet known where Albano will be reassigned.

But an EPD source, who declined to be identified, said Albano was not solely to blame.

He claimed that SM Megamall's security office received two phoned-in bomb threats -- one on May 17 and another on May 20, a day before the blast -- but they were not reported to the police.

Further, the mall also did not send a representative to a May 18 seminar by the EPD on improving security.

Air Force soldiers were deployed in at least three big commercial establishments in Quezon City to beef up the already tight security there.

In Caloocan City, Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo met with the city's peace and order council, about 120 business establishment representatives, city government and police officials to discuss the security situation.

Police received word that the Monumento Circle, now swarming with policemen, would be targetted.

Government offices like the Commission on Elections, the Departments of Health and Labor and Employment, among others, have stepped up security.

In Clark Field, Pampanga, about 50 dogs of various breeds are being trained to detect bombs at an Air Force facility there.

Pranksters continued to have a field day phoning in hoax bomb threats, one of which disrupted operations at Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales.

Late Monday night, Bacolod City got its first taste of bomb threats when a hotel there received a midnight phone call from a Tagalog-speaking man, hours before President Estrada arrived in the city to open the Millennium Palarong Pambansa games.

Meanwhile, police in Cavite picked up one Nasser Decor, 38, a Muslim man for questioning for his alleged ties with the Abu Sayyaf.-- With Jess Diaz, Liberty Dones, Non Alquitran, Marichu Villenueva, Cecille Felipe Suerte, Rainier Allan Ronda, Ding Cervantes, Sandy Araneta, Christina Mendez, Jen Velarmino, Antonietta Lopez, Jaime Laude