Just 18, Bas Ismael had fallen into bad company — he was one of the Abu Sayyaf’s new recruits and death’s newest delivery man in Zamboanga City.
Ismael was arrested by elements of the Philippine National Police (PNP) with four other suspects in the Zamboanga bombings: Abduljamin Habi, 18; Madzul Abdula Ladja, 23; Buyungan Bungkak, 19, and Rajak Sagumbayan, 27.
Ismael told police during interrogation that he received P2,000 for delivering a package to motorcycle-riding men near the Shop-O-Rama department store in Zamboanga City’s shopping district.
The money was Ismael’s payment for his participation in the twin blasts at Shop-O-Rama and the adjacent Shoppers’ Central and the bombing of Fort Pilar Shrine, all in Zamboanga City, on Oct. 17 and Oct. 20, respectively.
Ismael said he heard loud blasts a few minutes after the package he delivered was picked up. Ismael also said his role in the Fort Pilar blast was to ride the bicycle that was used to ferry the bomb that killed a Philippine Marine and wounded several churchgoers.
Ismael told police probers he was recruited by Abu Suleiman, believed by military and police authorities to be one of the Abu Sayyaf’s top leaders. He is believed to be the mastermind behind the recent spate of bomb attacks in Zamboanga City.
Ismael was arrested by police early Tuesday morning after which he led police to the lairs of his cohorts and identified them as Abu Sayyaf recruits.
Superintendent Paterno Orduña of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said investigators are still grilling the five suspects to determine the extent of their knowledge about the Zamboanga blasts.
Based on the admissions of the suspects, Orduña said, it is not possible that Ismael and his cohorts could venture into bomb attacks as vicious as those that ripped through the resort island of Bali, Indonesia, that killed 190 people and wounded scores of others.
PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. told reporters the police seized a red Toyota Corolla sedan with plate number LDF 426 from the five suspects near the History Hotel along Gen. Lim Avenue in Zamboanga City.
According to a police report on the matter, "a bomb (was) attached inside (the vehicle), particularly at the right front seat."
The report said an inspection of the interior of the car revealed the presence of trinitrotoluene, a powerful explosive used in making bombs. The report, however, did not state how much TNT was recovered inside the vehicle.
A PNP official said the car bomb was found at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday. The same official said the car registration indicated that the vehicle is owned by a certain Antonio Fernandez, of Ecoland, Davao City.
Ismael and his four cohorts admitted to participating in the lethal Zamboanga bombings, case investigators said.
CIDG director Chief Superintendent Eduardo Matillano said his men also seized documents, including a diagram with instructions on how to create a car bomb — that bolster the PNP’s assessment that the five suspects were planning more and bigger attacks.
The suspects were charged with multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder and illegal possession of explosives.