RP-wide bombings planned

Two men arrested for the April 21 bombings in General Santos City claimed the attacks were part of a widespread "destabilization" campaign that included targets in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, the Central Mindanao police said yesterday.

Mulikin Ambi Puntuan, 28, and Modesto "Bobby" Tabilo, 26, alleged members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), were tagged as among those responsible for the bombings that have so far killed 15 people and injured 69 others.

"From our tactical interrogation... this is not just General Santos, this is throughout the Philippines," Central Mindanao police chief Senior Superintendent Bartolome Baluyot told The Associated Press by telephone. "Their plan is destabilization, to create disturbances."

"We don’t know why they want to create disturbances," Baluyot said. "They said they have people in Manila... so we cannot just laugh that off."

Charges of illegal possession of explosives and firearms have been filed and multiple murder charges are being prepared against the two men.

A manhunt is on for their leader, Benjie Puntuan, Mulikin’s brother and Tabilo’s brother-in-law, who is supposedly also a member of the MNLF, according to General Santos police chief Senior Superintendent Jorge Aquisap.

This developed as President Arroyo urged Congress yesterday to immediately pass into law the pending Anti-Terrorism Act, authored by Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos.

"We must defeat them (terrorists) not only by force of arms but by force of our unity and determination as a civilized society," the President urged lawmakers.

Aquisap said Puntuan, who supposedly underwent bomb-making training in Malaysia, leads a 10-man terrorist cell that operates in the city, most of whom are still at large.

Meanwhile, thousands of Army and Marine troopers have been deployed to this port city within the last 48 hours after the April 21 bombings that has so far killed 15 people, three of them children, authorities said yesterday.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta said two companies from the 6th Infantry Division, based in Maguindanao, another company from the 37th Infantry Battalion and a Marine battalion have been deployed to the city to augment "Task Force GenSan" formed to secure the city under Army Col. Pedrito Magsino.

The 6th ID, based in Cotabato City and led by Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko, has also placed on tight watch major airports and seaports in Central Mindanao

The city council has passed a resolution urging the President to declare a state of emergency in General Santos, formerly known as Dadiangas, to curb further violence but Palace officials reiterated there is no need for it because the government has already ordered an "intensified police and military crackdown."

GMA urges passage of anti-terrorism law

Instead of pushing for a declaration of a state of emergency, the President asked Congress to urgently pass the Anti-Terrorism Act which would define terrorism as a capital offense, authorize police to conduct surveillance and lengthen detention and filing of charges against arrested terrorists.

Mrs. Arroyo also urged Congress to increase the police and military budget for their reward systems.

Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) head Secretary Gabriel Claudio said the anti-terrorism bills were filed in Congress shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US but were sidelined after the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering Law.

Although the bills were authored by opposition legislators, Claudio said the government’s war against terrorism transcends political affiliations.

"The Executive branch intends to work closely not only with the authors but also with the committee chairmen so that the inputs can be properly considered," Claudio said.

Claudio said the anti-terrorism bills will likely be among the top items in the agenda of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting set for this week.

Meanwhile, the General Santos City Disaster Coordinating Council reported that the blast’s death toll rose to 15 yesterday with the death of FitMart employee Boyet Cepalon, 20, who was manning the baggage counter less than five meters from the tricycle that carried the bomb.

Police said the shrapnel recovered from the FitMart blast were similar to the ones found in the series of bomb blasts that killed 21 people and wounded scores of others in Metro Manila on Dec. 30, 2000.

Aquisap said authorities are still looking at the possibility that the General Santos bombings may have been planned by terrorists trained by Indonesian national Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, who admitted to planning the Dec. 30, or Rizal Day, bombings.

Al-Ghozi, who was sentenced by a General Santos court last week to 12 years for illegal possession of explosives and six years for forgery of public documents, also admitted being a member of the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Al-Ghozi was arrested in Quiapo, Manila on Jan. 15, leading to the discovery of a cache of a ton of explosives inside a rented compound in General Santos.

And while an alleged spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group claimed responsibility for the bombing, the authorities are not excluding other threat groups.

The authorities are also not ruling out the possibility that the bombings were staged by local extortionists and only blamed better known armed groups to muddle the investigation.

Aquisap admitted that the bombings may have been the result of weak intelligence-gathering and pledged to coordinate with military intelligence officials.

"There is really a big problem here on intelligence networking among the different agencies. It is relatively weak. We need to strengthen the intelligence network here," Aquisap told The STAR.

Aquisap said one of the reasons for the failure of intelligence may be the rivalry between police and military intelligence groups in the city and Central Mindanao.

"I must admit it. There is no coordination between the military and the police intelligence groups in General Santos City and even in some areas in Central Mindanao," he said.

The situation is so bad the military often withholds information from the police. "And we in the police also withhold information from them," Aquisap said. - With reports from John Paul Jubelag, Edith Regalado, Marichu Villanueva, John Unson, Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, wire services