PNP assessing Pinoy’s claim on Saudi attack

Intelligence authorities are assessing the statement of a Filipino technician who claimed he was offered money while he was in Saudi Arabia to bomb one of the three residential compounds in Riyadh that were attacked by suicide bombers last Monday.

"We are now studying (the technician’s) statement. We are careful about this because this could turn out to be a hoax, but I think he is okay," an intelligence official who interviewed the technician in a safehouse somewhere in Metro Manila told The STAR.

The technician, identified only as "Mang Boy," claimed two Arab-looking men had befriended him in October last year and offered him a huge amount of money to plant a bomb inside the compound. The man said he decided to go home last April even before his contract was finished, fearing for his life.

Three Filipinos, eight Americans and nine alleged Saudi suicide bombers were among the 34 who perished in the attacks. Almost 200 people were wounded.

In an earlier interview with radio station dzMM, Mang Boy indicated his willingness to reveal further details, but only if authorities could guarantee his safety and that of his family. He further claimed he will be able to identify in pictures the "Arab-looking" men who approached him.

But the same intelligence official claimed they may not get much information from Mang Boy.

"What he knows is limited. We still just have to determine his credibility first before deciding what to do next," the source said.

But for the Philippine National Police (PNP), the claims are credible enough to place the technician under protective custody.

PNP Director Ricardo de Leon, chief of PNP-Police Community Relations, said the technician can be used as a vital witness in the Riyadh bombing.

"He is credible. But I’m not sure yet if his statement will be part of the evidence. We don’t have a conclusion yet if his statement has a bearing in Riyadh," de Leon said.

De Leon noted the technician was personally approached by those who may be behind the Monday’s attack.

"The people personally contacted him. He returned to the country because he is afraid. He submitted himself to us. If his information or testimony will be necessary in Riyadh, this is being coordinated," he said.

Following the radio interview of Mang Boy, PNP intelligence director Chief Superintendent Arthur Lumibao ordered that Mang Boy be brought immediately under custody.

De Leon said the PNP is ready to provide Mang Boy and his family ample protection if his claims later turn out to be true.

"But this time will not be an easy job for the police because we have to enlist the assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)," De Leon said.

But for the DFA, a background check on Mang Boy is necessary.

"The department, reflecting Philippine concern over incidents of this nature, will undertake measures to verify the various elements of this narrative and, if necessary, will take corrective action. All these will be done in coordination and cooperation with relevant agencies of the government," the DFA said in a statement.

In certain cases, the DFA said, "testimonies from witnesses who initially grabbed public attention were eventually proven to be not entirely based on fact."

"This is the prudent thing to do," the DFA statement added.

DFA spokesman Victoriano Lecaros said acting DFA Secretary Delia Albert ordered that Mang Boy’s claims be verified and that a background check be conducted on him.

While it was a good gesture that Mang Boy did not accept the offer of money, Lecaros stressed the government will not allow the international community to have an impression that Filipinos are being recruited as mercenaries abroad.

"We are hoping that he does cooperate. This also touches on his personal safety, if not the safety of his friends in their work site," Lecaros said.

If the technician’s claims are proven true, Lecaros said they will issue the necessary guidelines so Filipino workers can avoid getting into similar situations.

"This kind of advise is applicable even outside of the Middle East region. You don’t lose anything to let our people know that something like this is alleged to have been attempted to one of our citizens, trying to enlist a Filipino worker," Lecaros said.

Lecaros noted that Mang Boy turned down the offer of money by claiming that he went to Saudi to work. "He (the technician) might as well have spoken for the 1.4 million other Filipinos," he said.

The story may be "very unusual," Lecaros noted, but diplomats have never learned to dismiss or accept something outright as the truth or otherwise.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it has advised Filipino communities in Saudi Arabia to brace for more terror attacks.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said the warning was issued in the wake of the statements made by Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople that the Riyadh bombings "may not be the last."

Sto. Tomas, however, dismissed reports that the suicide attacks were also aimed at Filipinos since the Philippines was a part of the "coalition of the willing" that supported the US-led war against Iraq.

Sto. Tomas said the suicide attacks were primarily directed against Americans but it so happened there were Filipinos at the site when the bombings were carried out.

Following last Monday’s suicide attacks, Sto. Tomas claimed no Filipino worker in Riyadh expressed a desire to go home despite threats of another terror attack. – With Aurea Calica, Jaime Laude, Jose Rodel Clapano