Police to present 2 suspects in Koronadal blast

Koronadal City — Police will present to the media here today two suspects in the July 30 bombing in this city that seriously wounded three innocent civilians, including a 21-year-old woman.

Superintendent Adolfo Bautista, deputy director of the South Cotabato police, said Chief Superintendent Danilo Mangila, Central Mindanao police director, and other high-ranking police officials in the region will be around when the blast suspects are presented.

Police officials, however, refused to identify the two suspects who, they said, were still undergoing tactical interrogation.

The STAR gathered reports that the two suspects were arrested inside the city’s public market past noon last Saturday.

Bautista said witnesses have identified the two suspects as the ones they saw near the gate of the city’s public market before the powerful improvised explosive went off at about 3:38 p.m. of July 30.

He said the suspects hail from a Sultan Kudarat town. Reports, however, claimed they are residents of Lutayan town, some 20 kilometers away from this city.

"The two suspects were positively identified by the witnesses. That’s the reason why they were arrested," Bautista told The STAR.

Bautista said probers were still checking if the two suspects had other companions in pulling off the bombing.

Bautista said Senior Superintendent Getulio Napeñas, South Cotabato police director, has declared a "full alert" in the vicinity of the provincial police headquarters since Saturday night following reports that suspicious-looking people aboard cars were seen driving around the area.

"Full alert kami hanggang ngayon. Mahirap nang magkumpyansa (We are on full alert until now. It’s bad to be overly confident)," he said.