MANILA, Philippines – Investigators are looking into the involvement of the Al Khobar extortion group in the Digos bus bombing where six persons were killed and about 28 others wounded, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said yesterday.
The police are now hunting for a certain Junaira Mimbida, a noted female member of the extortion group, whom they suspect carried out the attack, which took place on the first day of Ramadan.
Razon said investigators will still consider other possible angles, including terrorism, in their investigation of the bombing.
He also called on bus operators, particularly in Mindanao, to beef up security.
“We have suggested to bus operators to observe strict security measures to prevent similar attacks,” Razon added.
The PNP chief urged bus companies to instruct their drivers not to pick up passengers outside the terminal because they could not be subjected to inspection, thus allowing criminals to sneak explosives into the bus.
At around 2:45 p.m. last Monday, a bomb exploded inside a Metro Shuttle bus with body no. 209 and plate number LWS-513 which was parked at the terminal in Digos City. The bus came from Davao City bound for Malita in Davao del Sur.
Police said the improvised explosive device (IED) was placed in an overhead bin above the seventh seat on the driver’s side, where most of the fatalities were seated.
Marlon Duey, Fe Cadwan, Anna Marie Burgar, Virginia Flores, Wella Trimucho, and an unidentified male, all passengers of the bus, died due to severe injuries.
Twenty-eight others were wounded and taken to hospital.
Southern Mindanao Police Regional director Chief Superintendent Andres Caro, Davao Gov. Douglas Cagas and Digos City Mayor Arsenio Lalasa went to the crime scene and personally supervised the investigation and assisted the victims.
Lady bomber
Mimbida, who is married to a Jordanian, was also said to be behind the July 24 bombing of another Metro Shuttle bus at the same terminal in Digos City.
Previous investigations showed that she also had a hand in a series of past bombings in South and North Cotabato, and has been facing several charges of illegal possession of ammunitions.
She has eluded arrest in spite of several police raids on her suspected hideouts.
“This time, she had her hair curled unlike the last time that she had straight hair. But witnesses point to the same features when asked about the woman who boarded the bus in the town of Sta. Cruz and alighted in an area in Digos City before reaching the terminal where the bomb exploded,” Caro said.
Mimbida was able to carry out the bombing even if her police sketch had already been circulated among police and military units as well as bus companies plying the different routes in the region.
Caro lamented how the drivers and conductors of the bus company have again refused to heed the guideline that they do not pick up passengers along the highway between terminals.
“The security check in the terminals is usually tight, that is why the perpetrators board the buses in areas where they know they would not be thoroughly checked,” Caro said.
He advised Metro Shuttle and other bus companies to invest in metal detectors, which could be used in checking the baggage of passengers before they are allowed to board.
Mayor Rey Uy of Tagum City, Davao del Norte, who also owns the Metro Shuttle Bus Line, has repeatedly refused to give in to the demands of the extortion group.
A call to vigilance
A high-ranking Church Official based in Digos City, on the other hand, called on the public to closely work with local officials and beef up security in the province.
Digos Bishop Guillermo Afable yesterday told CBCPNews, the official news service provider of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), that the people should protect themselves against lawless elements in the province.
He appealed to everyone, Christians, Lumads or Muslims, to offer prayers for truth, justice, love and freedom of the victims of the latest bus explosion and their families.
Afable described the latest bombing incident as a “heinous crime” against innocent civilians, including children.
He said the perpetrators were neither espousing their political, economic nor personal agenda.
Assured
Meanwhile, the families of the six fatalities and the 28 wounded bus passengers were assured by a top insurance executive that they will receive their respective burial and medical expenses.
Eduardo Atayde, president and chief executive officer of Philippine Accident Managers Inc. (PAMI), said the Metro Shuttle Bus Co. was insured by their company and that he had already signed the cash check worth P800,000 to cover the claims.
“All they need is just the death certificates of the victims and the families and relatives of the victims would receive their claims for the respective victims,” he said.
Atayde said under the existence “No Risk No Fault” rule, the relatives and families of each victim were guaranteed P60,000 for burial expenses while those wounded would get P12,500 for medical expenses.
He said all the passengers are covered even if it was a terrorist attack.
Atayde advised the relatives and families of the victims to coordinate with the PAMI Davao office, in front of Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) regional office, at Balusong Matina, Davao City and look for their branch manager Arlene Real or call telephone 082-229-745-44. – With Edith Regalado, Jaime Laude, Evelyn Macairan, Perseus Echeminada