Explosives in Makati park, bus blasts similar, probers say

MANILA, Philippines - The same type of explosive was used in Jan. 23 blast at Makati City’s business district and in the attack on a bus along EDSA, also in Makati, last year, investigators said yesterday.

“Based on the reconstruction, it can be said that an 81mm mortar (shell was used in the H.V. de la Costa blast),” Chief Inspector Jenny Tecson told The STAR over the phone Friday.

Tecson is the designated spokesperson for Task Group De la Costa, a special body formed to investigate the blast. The task group is composed of policemen from Makati, the Southern Police District (which supervises the city), and the National Capital Region Police Office.

An 81mm mortar shell also ripped apart a Newman Gold Liner bus along EDSA’s northbound lane, near the Metro Rail Transit’s Gil Puyat station, on Jan. 25, 2011. It left four people dead and 14 hurt.

The explosion last Jan. 23, on the other hand, happened at a vacant lot beside Salcedo Park, along H.V. de la Costa street. A car parked nearby was damaged but no one was hurt.

Tecson said a cell phone was used as the triggering device for the bus bombing, while they have yet to determine the device used for the De la Costa blast. Both incidents occurred at around 2 p.m.

If they are connected to each other, Tecson said it is too early to tell because post-blast investigation is ongoing, and there is not enough evidence to accuse any group.

Police have ruled out destabilization plots against the Aquino administration in both incidents, and said extortion could be the motive.

“We are looking more on may nananakot (someone trying to scare another) or extortion. It’s not connected with terrorism or any security threat,” said Director Leocadio Santiago, directorate for operations of the Philippine National Police, in an interview over radio station dzBB.

He said the blast might be a result of people fighting over property or a business transaction. “Sometimes business is scarier than a national threat,” he added.

Santiago said destabilization plots will “not succeed” at this time. President Aquino warned the public of a possible terror threat for the Jan. 9 Black Nazarene feast, which ended peacefully.

Terrorism was also ruled out in both blasts, but police arrested a certain Ryan Sison, an alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf Group, for the 2011 explosion. Sison was arrested in Lucena, Quezon province in June 2011. Some reports identified him as a member of the New People’s Army. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe