SAF cop cleared in Makati bus bombing

MANILA, Philippines - A Special Action Force (SAF) policeman was acquitted by a Makati court of charges in connection with the 2011 Makati bus bombing that left five people dead and 15 others wounded.

In a 22-page decision dated June 26, Judge Carlito Calpatura cleared Police Officer 2 Arnold Mayo of the charges of multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder on the ground of reasonable doubt.

The judge said it was “highly improbable, if not impossible” for Mayo to have been in the bus on Jan. 25, 2011 as he was assigned with the 54th Special Action Company in Basilan at that time. 

Mayo was charged by the Department of Justice after he was identified by witnesses as the one who allegedly planted the bomb that exploded in the Newman Goldliner bus in Makati City.