Bus bombing: Noy sees secessionist link

BUSAN – The suspect behind last Tuesday’s bus bombing in Bukidnon is connected to secessionist groups who escaped jail years ago, President Aquino said here yesterday.

“Is this a terror attack? What I know at this point is that this guy is connected with certain secessionist groups,” Aquino said in a press conference.

“He has actually been previously jailed and escaped jail in 2006,” he added.

Aquino declined to elaborate on the suspect’s identity to avoid compromising security operations.

“There seems to be a very strong case against this person. So is it a terrorist attack? One can liken it to the attempts to derail the peace process by inflicting more terror, violence on the community,” Aquino said.

Ten people were killed and dozens others were injured in a bus explosion that rocked Maramag, Bukidnon last Tuesday.

An improvised explosive device inside a Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. (RTMI) bus went off in front of the Central Mindanao University at around 5:30 p.m. The bus reportedly came from Wao, Lanao del Sur and was bound for Cagayan de Oro.

The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has denied any hand in the incident.

Aquino said measures would be implemented to ensure the safety of bus passengers.

“It seems that these attacks do not happen in terminals,” Aquino said.

“We are coming up with procedures to harden the target and minimize the threat posed by passengers embarking beyond terminals,” he added.

Aquino said these measures include profiling passengers and providing stubs for every item of baggage.

Some security officials, however, are convinced an extortion syndicate, not the BIFF, was behind the bombing.

Officials cited extortion gangs in Central Mindanao, among them the Al-Khobar, that prey on transportation companies and commercial establishments in the region.

The Al-Khobar was implicated in more than 20 bombings of buses in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato and South Cotabato between 2003 to 2013.

Key members of the Region 12 peace and order council said the police should investigate further.

“If we immediately point an accusing finger at the BIFF we could possibly end up allowing the real culprits to go scot-free,” one of the security officials said.

Another official said that while the BIFF has hundreds of members, it has limited capability to operate in Bukidnon, a predominantly Christian area.

“Even before the BIFF emerged in 2010, the Al-Khobar was already operating with impunity in many areas in Central Mindanao and some of its members charged with criminal offenses in connection with the group’s activity are Visayans,” a local official pointed out. – Alexis Romero, John Unson, Reinir Padua