THE Armed Forces yesterday said it still
has no definite suspects or motive on the Wednesday blasts
that left seven people dead and scores wounded in Mindanao.
Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, AFP public
information office chief, said military and police
investigators were still looking into the bombings, including
how the improvised explosives were assembled.
Chief Supt. German Doria, Central Mindanao
police director, said the signatures of the bombs were
different.
Doria said the bomb used in the General
Santos blast had traces of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and a little
of C4 plastic, while the device in the Kidapawan City
explosion had a grenade lever and traces of TNT.
The Cotabato City blast, Doria said, had
traces of an 81-mm mortar round, which the JI and Abu Sayyaf
used in past bombings.
"The use of 81 mm mortar shells in
improvised explosive devices is a known signature of the JI
and ASG, unless there are some groups na gusto iligaw ang
ating investigators," Doria said.
Doria said they were not ruling out a
terrorist attack in the General Santos explosion although
initial investigations showed extortion was the stronger
angle. He said the owner a lotto outlet where the bomb was
planted had refused to give in to extortion demands.
The military is looking at three groups
that could be behind the attacks: the JI and Abu Sayyaf; those
opposed to the ongoing peace process between the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front and government; and warring clans.
On Thursday, AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes
Esperon Jr. said military explosives and ordnance experts have
identified the signature of renegade MILF leader Usman Basit
in the explosions.
But Bacarro clarified that it has not been
established that Basit, who is linked to the Abu Sayyaf and
the Jemaah Islamiah, was the one actually behind the attacks
in General Santos, Kidapawan and Cotabato cities.
"We just like to make a correction on that.
He is one of the suspects. He has not been identified… Based
on probabilities, his name cropped up. It’s not yet
confirmed," Bacarro said.
Investigators have filed charges against
Basit and several other respondents in connection with a
series of bombings in the South in October last year that left
eight dead. Officials said the earlier attacks were meant to
divert military attention from its offensives against Abu
Sayyaf and JI leaders in Sulu.
Bacarro said investigators have established
that it was Basit who ordered the rigging of a motorcycle with
a bomb last month. The motorcycle was intercepted by
government forces near the Alah bridge in Tacurong City
The National Capital Region Police Office
has beefed up security in the metropolis.
Metro Manila police chief Director Reynaldo Varilla also
said he has added 240 policemen to secure vital installations,
including shopping malls and transportation terminals.
