Attempt to bomb Cotabato transport terminal thwarted

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao, Philippines – Authorities tightened security in Central Mindanao after ordnance operatives foiled yesterday another attempt to bomb a bus terminal in North Cotabato.

Maj. Marlowe Patria, civil-military relations chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said bystanders found the improvised explosive along a path leading to the terminal of the Rural Transit Bus in Kabacan town, giving bomb experts enough time to deactivate its blasting mechanism before it could explode.

Suspected Moro extremists have repeatedly attempted to bomb several units of the bus company, which plies the North Cotabato-Bukidnon-Cagayan route, in recent weeks.

Patria said a vigilant worker of the bus firm, a certain Manuel Yabut, first found the explosive neatly placed in a bag and immediately reported it to soldiers and policemen positioned nearby.

“Police and Army investigators were certain the explosive was to be planted in a bus parked at the terminal, but the bomber balked after seeing several policemen and uniformed soldiers positioned in the surroundings,” Patria said.

The explosive was fashioned from a live 81-mm mortar projectile rigged with an improvised blasting device attached to a mobile phone.

Patria said the responding Army and police bomb experts managed to cut the line connecting the mobile phone to the bomb’s blasting mechanism.

“The explosive was defused an hour after it was found near the terminal. We ought to thank the vigilant people who found it first before it could explode. It was enough to kill dozens of people,” Patria said.          

There have been several bombing attacks on terminals and buses in North Cotabato’s adjoining Kabacan, Carmen and Matalam towns, the deadliest of which occurred about two months ago which left 10 bus passengers dead and more than 20 others seriously wounded.

“The 6th ID, through its component unit, the 602nd Infantry Brigade, has fielded dozens of intelligence operatives and uniformed combatants in public places in these towns to help the police foil bomb attacks by extortionists and militant factions,” Patria said.