'Fraternity plotted Bar grenade attack for weeks'

MANILA, Philippines - The grenade attack that marred the conclusion of this year’s Bar exams in Manila on Sept. 26 was allegedly planned for weeks by the fraternity tagged as being behind the incident, and other fraternities knew about it, a witness claimed yesterday.

The witness, an elected official in the Visayas who refused to be named because he does not want to be involved in the ongoing investigation, said he was told on the second Sunday of the exams about the supposed plan of the fraternity.

“I was told they would create trouble against their known arch rival fraternity during the salubong. It was really intended on the last day of the exams,” he told The STAR in an interview.

The witness said he was referring to the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity, of which the primary suspect of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Anthony Nepomuceno, was a member.

The source alleged another fraternity, Alpha Kappa Rho (Akhro), also knew about the APO’s plan.

“I talked to an elder of Akhro and he told me that he heard about it also,” he said.

The official joined the Bar operations because his son took the exams. He said upon learning about the plan ahead of time, he and his companions opted to stay at the other gate, away from the crowd during the salubong.

“I already wanted to tell the police to control the crowd because there were too many people at that time,” he confessed.

After meeting his son at the gate, they went to a nearby coffee shop. A few minutes after, he said he heard a loud explosion from the area where they came from.

He said when he went out of the shop, he saw a man wearing a mask on his face being chased by some men.

“The men were able to stop him and I saw two of them punch him. I could not see the face of the man because of the mask,” he recalled, adding that his driver even saw some of the victims of the blast crawling on the ground.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima earlier said that investigation showed that the attack was “well-planned.” It was found that the APO rented the eatery near the area for their operations during the Bar.

After identifying Nepomuceno as the one who allegedly lobbed the grenade, the NBI is now pursuing its probe to pinpoint two other suspects who helped him escape from the site and determine the motive behind the attack.

Preparing an airtight case

De Lima has already confirmed that investigation has showed that the explosion was a result of “miscalculation” of the suspect that resulted in injuries of persons in the “mistaken group.”

A source at the NBI earlier told The STAR that Nepomuceno, the primary suspect, accidentally removed the pin from the MK2-type grenade while looking for his target.

Upon seeing the group of persons wearing black shirts, he immediately removed the pin from the grenade and threw it at the group. Apparently there were at least three groups clad in black shirts in the crowd during the incident.

In filing the charges of multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder against Nepomuceno, the NBI cited the testimonies of a female law student, a pedicab driver and an eatery owner.

The first witness told investigators that she saw a suspicious looking male carrying a dark-colored back pack with a touch of gray, wearing wide dark sunglasses and half of his face was covered with a dark handkerchief coming from the direction of Tapa King on Taft Avenue around 10 minutes after 5 p.m. last Sept. 26.

“After a few minutes, (the suspect) turned and faced toward St. Benilde’s gate. Suddenly, unexpected by the victims, (the suspect) treacherously lobbed a grenade directed to the southbound side of Taft Avenue and after a few seconds a loud explosion occurred,” the NBI complaint stated.

It was found that the suspect fled toward the direction of Estrada Street, but was impeded by four members of Beta Sigma Lambda fraternity upon reaching a coffee shop after the witness shouted for help.

But while tackling the suspect, two men came to the suspect’s rescue. One of them even pointed a gun at one of the four men.

“The man who held the gun was seen pressing the trigger but by some cause other than his own spontaneous desistance the gun did not go off. Anxious of the gunman, the fratmen backed down. Thus, the trio was able to wiggle free and ran toward the path going to Estrada Street,” the bureau said.

The second witness told investigators that he saw the suspect, pale and panting, hide inside a red pick-up after the scuffle. Two women and another man then also boarded the vehicle and covered the suspect before they went to Good Choice restaurant along Leon Guinto Street.

It was later found, based on statement of the third witness, that the APO rented the eatery beside the Good Choice restaurant for their Bar operations for the four Sundays of the exams.