Fiscals want CCTV footage of Batasan bomb suspect

MANILA, Philippines - The prosecution wants to have as evidence the footage of a closed-circuit television camera at the lobby of the Batasan Pambansa complex that is believed to have caught a suspect in the November 2007 bombing parking a motorcycle carrying the explosive device.

Following a hearing Wednesday, the prosecutors asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 83 Judge Ralph Lee to subpoena the House of Representatives to produce a copy of the said footage “hopefully in the next hearing” in December.

Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong said the footage purportedly caught Ikram Indama, former driver of ex-Basilan lawmaker Gerry Salapuddin, at the Batasan lobby moments before the explosion.

In a related development, the Supreme Court denied in a Nov. 17 resolution Salapuddin’s petition to quash a warrant for his arrest issued by Lee.

Salapuddin is one of the seven accused in the bombing that killed six people, including his political rival and Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar, who was perceived to be the main target of the attack, and injured several others.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Negros Oriental Rep. Pryde Henry Teves, who survived the attack, said he was able to view the footage.

According to Ong, the footage is purportedly in the possession of Jilbert Ortega, who heads the House’s complaints and investigation unit.

Indama had admitted that he parked a motorcycle carrying the explosives near the exit of the south wing of Batasan complex before the explosion – something that he later on retracted.

Ong said they did not immediately include the footage in the list of evidence submitted by the prosecution during the pre-trial stage of the case. But he said they had the footage reserved and they now intend to bring it out before the court. – Reinir Padua, Roel Pareño