Smoke bombs found along North Expressway

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Two smoke bombs were found by police along the North Luzon Expressway in Barangay Paho following reports that communist and political opposition groups were out to duplicate the Dec. 30 bombings in Metro Manila in this province.

Senior Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton, police chief of this capital town, said the bombs were discovered after hours of search of several kilometers of the expressway starting at 9 a.m.

The search for the bombs was triggered by reports from a truck driver that he saw a black bag with a blinking red light hanging on a railing along the south-bound lane of the expressway at about 2 a.m. yesterday.

The driver and his passenger reportedly stopped to inspect the bag and threw it beyond the railing after finding out that it could contain a bomb since they saw connecting wires protruding from inside.

Cuaton said the truckers allegedly reported their find to their employer after reaching their office in Manila. The employer, in turn, called up the Philippine National Construction Corp., which has jurisdiction over the expressway. The PNCC then alerted the local police.

Cuaton said local policemen combed several kilometers of the expressway before they found the bag near a power transmission post of the National Power Corp. – Ding Cervantes, Cecille Suerte Felipe