Pentagon unit’s Twitter account suspended over Davao blasts joke

MANILA, Philippines - The US Department of Defense has suspended the Twitter account of its Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization for posting a joke about the twin bombings in Davao City on Sept. 16.

In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman George Little said:

“I just directed the suspension of the @JIEDDO twitter account following inappropriate and offensive tweets.”

“Were they re-showing Gigli? Bomb explosions at 2 movie theaters in Philippines http://goo.gl/4K9EQC The IED is a global threat.”

The tweet was plainly unacceptable, Little said.

Gigli is a 2003 film starring Al Pacino, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The film was a flop.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte shrugged off the tweet that poked fun at the bombings in cinemas in two malls in Davao City last Monday night.

“It is part of the job, you get such criticisms and other remarks,” he said.

The newspaper Wall Street Journal reported that a spokesman for JIEDDO has apologized for the tweet.

“I sincerely apologize to those who took offense at the distasteful comment,” the report quoted an e-mail from David Small.

“Bottom line, there is nothing funny about an IED event.” 

The JIEDDO Twitter account has since been taken down.

Duterte has put up a P2-million reward for   information on the bombers.

“It is P1 million each for the two of them,” he said.

“I am giving them 48 hours to surrender. After the 48-hour deadline if still they do not surrender... then the P1 million bounty for each of them will be put up.”  

The deadline is set to end at 3:30 p.m. today.

Davao City police director Senior Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa showed media CCTV footage showing the suspect entering SM Cinema 1 at around 7:20 p.m. Monday night wearing a white long-sleeve polo shirt.

When he came out several minutes later, he was wearing a jacket and bull cap.

The same man was also seen entering Gaisano Mall 51 minutes after he left SM City, still wearing the jacket and cap.

The second suspect had reportedly bought 21 pieces of nine-volt batteries from a store at the DCLA shopping complex along R. Magsaysay Avenue the day before the bombings.

The whole operation was carried out by at least three to four people trained in bombings, Duterte said. – With Edith Regalado