Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Southeast Asia
Commander Robot dead with 16 others as Filippino jail stormed
2005-03-15
Though you couldn't tell it from listening to the news, not even Fox News, it's been a productive and rewarding week in the WoT. Gazing over the headlines for the past seven days:
3/15/2005 Commander Robot titzup in prison break attempt
3/14/2005 Abdullah Mehsud is no more?
3/13/2005 1 al-Qaeda dead, 5 Soddy coppers wounded (Actually two, and two more in jug)
3/12/2005 Last Syrian troops leave Lebanon
3/11/2005 Al-Moayad guilty
3/10/2005 Local Elder of Islam to succeed Maskhadov
3/9/2005 Nasrallah warns U.S. to stop interfering in Lebanon
3/8/2005 Toe tag for Aslan
Police launched a major assault Tuesday on a maximum-security jail taken over by al-Qaida-linked suspects, killing at least 17 people in a raid that began with a barrage of tear-gas canisters and bullets, officials said. Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said the dead included four leaders of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, including the two men who headed a botched escape attempt Monday that left five others dead. "We have taken control of all the floors," Metro Manila Police Chief Avelino Razon quoted the ground commander as saying less than an hour after the operation began.

Sporadic gunfire continued for an hour as police said they were conducting mop-up operations. At least five officers involved in the assault were wounded. "There were so many people, they were hiding in their cells," said Napoleon Cabrera, a police officer who led one of the assault teams. "Some were firing pistols, some were yelling because of the tear gas smoke," Cabrera said, adding that he got in a firefight with one rebel. "I was hit in the leg. But I know he fell down," Cabrera said.

The raid began after authorities gave the inmates a 15-minute deadline to surrender — an ultimatum that came after hours of fruitless negotiations with the inmates. Some detainees were seen scaling down the walls inside the compound as thick smoke billowed out. A police helicopter hovered above and ambulances waited for casualties. The inmates had agreed to surrender after their failed jailbreak Monday, but the deal broke down when they demanded food first, prompting civilian negotiators to leave in frustration.

The jail has about 425 suspects, including 129 suspected members and leaders of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which is notorious for deadly bombings and ransom kidnappings in which some hostages were beheaded. Reyes said among the dead Tuesday were three Abu Sayyaf leaders — Alhamzer Manatad Limbong, known as Kosovo; Ghalib Andang, known as Commander Robot; and Nadzmie Sabtulah, alias Commander Global. All three have been accused of involvement in mass kidnappings and other terror acts. Detainee Hazdi Daie, a spokesman for the inmates, also was killed, Reyes said. The identities of the other 13 fatalities were not immediately known, police officials said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called and "said that she is congratulating the forces involved for a job well done, but she lamented" the casualties, Reyes said. "We don't shoot innocent people. They were armed, they fired at us and we fired back," he said. The crisis began when suspected Abu Sayyaf members overpowered and stabbed their guards, then took their pistols and ammunition, Razon said. A shootout ensued. At least three guards and two Abu Sayyaf members were killed in the initial escape attempt, police said. Police spokesman Leopoldo Bataoil said about 10 men were involved in the uprising, led by Limbong and Kair Abdul Gapar, a kidnap-for-ransom suspect. Limbong was allegedly involved in a mass kidnapping in 2001-02 that left several hostages — including two Americans — dead, and a ferry bombing a year ago that killed more than 100 people in the Philippines' worst terrorist attack.

A number of Abu Sayyaf suspects have escaped from Philippine jails, which are often dilapidated, with inadequate and sometimes corrupt staff. State prosecutor Peter Medalle, who is handling several cases involving the Abu Sayyaf, said jail guards were tipped off about a possible prison break three weeks ago from an intercepted mobile phone conversation between Limbong and Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Solaiman. "We warned them repeatedly ... as late as last week of the planned escape. Apparently, our warnings were ignored," he said.

Two years ago, a top terror suspect, Indonesian Fathur Rohman Al Ghozi, escaped from Manila police headquarters while serving a 12-year term for possession of explosives. He was killed in a shootout with police a few months later. In April, more than 50 inmates, led by suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, used a smuggled pistol to flee from a jail on southern Basilan island. In December, a Filipino suspect who was being interrogated about a bomb found on a bus was fatally shot at a Manila detention center after allegedly killing a guard.
Link


Southeast Asia
Police arrest Valentine's Day bombing
2005-03-04
Police have arrested the alleged supplier of explosives used in a series of bombings that killed 12 people in the Philippines on February 14, military and police spokesmen said. The suspect, Gappal Bana, widely known as "Boy Negro", surrendered to authorities late Thursday as a police and military dragnet was closing in on him in Camarines Sur province, just south of the capital, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual said.

The suspect will be presented to the public by Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes later Friday said police spokesman Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil. Bana, who was wounded in a clash with police Thursday before escaping and later turning himself in, is believed to have supplied the explosives used in simultaneous bombings in the financial district of Manila which left as many as six dead and about a hundred injured on Valentine's Day.
Link


Southeast Asia
JI scaling up assistance to Filippino jihadis
2005-02-25
The al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) has stepped up its training of Philippine terrorists, giving instructions on the manufacture of bombs hidden in cars, vests and even helmets, security officials said yesterday. Top intelligence officials revealed this new threat as Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Edgar Aglipay presented three foreigners and their Filipino cohort who are suspected of training local extremists in the jungles of Central Mindanao. Aglipay identified the four alleged JI militants as Indonesians Mohammad Nasir Hamid and Mohammed Yusop Karin Faiz; Ted Yolanda, a Malaysian; and their Filipino cohort Muhajir de la Merced, tagged as an operative of the Abu Sayyaf's special operations group.

PNP Intelligence Group director Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan explained the four had been training Abu Sayyaf extremists and a small group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas in bombing techniques and strategies. "They have reached a high level of sophistication in (the) use of car bombs but Filipinos are not yet ripe for suicide bombings," Rafanan said.

Rafanan said the three foreigners are members of JI, the Southeast Asia-based arm of al-Qaeda, said to be behind the October 2002 Bali bomb blasts in Indonesia that claimed over 200 lives. The three foreigners were arrested as they entered the port of Zamboanga last December, after foreign governments had tipped off Manila on the suspects' movements, Rafanan told reporters. He said the group was headed for a known JI training base on Mount Kararao in Central Mindanao. "They were preparing to go into (making) car bombs," Rafanan said. "They have reached that level of sophistication. They are ready to do it." Although Rafanan did not identify the supposed targets, he said the suspects had planned to "train people to do that."

Explaining the delay in presenting the suspects, Rafanan said this was due to follow-up operations by the military to determine local contacts and identify those sending terrorist funding from Indonesia. Security officials also stressed the arrest had been made before the spate of bomb attacks that rocked Makati City in Metro Manila and the cities of General Santos and Davao in Mindanao, killing 13 people and wounding 140 others last Feb. 14. "We cannot link them to the three bombings on Valentine's Day," he said. "They were supposed to launch five bomb attacks in Manila and on Mindanao island during the Yuletide season."

Police announced the arrest of two suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits involved in the Feb. 14 blasts last Tuesday. Authorities also bared plans for another bombing run by the Abu Sayyaf that would have targeted shopping malls in Metro Manila, Mindanao and central Visayas. Rafanan said the three JI militants and the Abu Sayyaf bandit have been in PNP custody since December. He stressed the arrest had purportedly averted their "plans" to sow terror during the holidays.

Western intelligence agencies had previously warned of terror training camps in Mindanao, some supposedly run by radical MILF guerrillas who provide sanctuary and training facilities for al-Qaeda-linked militants. Rafanan pointed out the operation also yielded training manuals, guns and explosives seized from the detained suspects during their arrest. A total of $7,000 in cash was also seized, police said. He said intelligence agents began shadowing the four from the time they were first monitored in Tawi-Tawi, the country's southernmost territory near Malaysia's eastern Sabah province.

The four suspects were proceeding to a JI training camp in central Mindanao when they were arrested. Police presented seized diagrams that showed methods of planting car bombs, which they said were to be used to train local extremists. In a later interview with The STAR, Rafanan outlined the level of expertise of the four and detailed the training they are supposed to provide local militants. He said the training included the manufacture of high-projectile materials fashioned out of metal fragments from cars to helmets, as well as utilizing photographer's vests in carrying out bomb attacks.

Steel helmets, Rafanan claimed, can be used as metal projectiles against helicopters and other low-flying aircraft. "It is known as a modified anti-aircraft (weapon) which is attached to a propelling device. It is packed with a large quantity of black powder, a primer fuse, sharp metal and a detonator," he said.

Rafanan said the low-tech device can be very destructive to low-flying aircraft since it could damage and derail flight. Rafanan also revealed the training would have included the use of car bombs, similar to those used by the JI in the Bali bombings in 2002, the Marriott Hotel attack in Jakarta in 2003 and the attack on the residence of Philippine ambassador to Indonesia Leonides Caday in August 2000. "This is most sophisticated in terms of use in attacks in our country. Ito ang mas kinatatakutan namin kasi mas maraming casualties ang maabot (We are afraid this would happen because of the number of casualties it would result in)," he said.

Although local terrorists are not yet "that dedicated" to perform suicide bombings, Rafanan stressed the JI has been conditioning local extremists to carry out suicide attacks. He said the JI had particularly emphasized the use of flak vests as human bombs. The suicide attacker is supposed to don the vest, containing massive amount of explosives packed into steel pipes and rigged for detonation.

Rafanan noted the Valentine's Day bombers used milk cans and backpacks to transport the explosives but these, too, were relatively sophisticated since all were triggered by cellular phones. The seizure of several copies of the Q'uran written in Arabic and CDs containing messages from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden found among the four suspects added further evidence of the JI's aims to establish a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia that would include the southern Philippines.

Reyes, for his part, declared the four to be members of the JI, the shadowy regional network of militants linked to al-Qaeda that is blamed for the Bali bombing in 2002 that killed 202 people and other deadly attacks in the Southeast Asian region. On the other hand, Reyes said the four suspects can only be charged with possession of explosives and weapons, as well as immigration laws violations. "We only charge them with violating our immigration laws because we still don't have an anti-terrorism law," Reyes said, making a strong pitch for passage of the controversial measure that was revived in Congress after last week's attacks.

The anti-terror bill is among several measures that have gathered dust since they were first proposed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Attempts to revive the bill have faced stiff opposition because of deep distrust of government power, a hangover from the country's painful experience under martial law during the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos' 20-year rule.

In a related matter, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the United Nations will be sending a team of experts to assist the Philippine government in crafting a version of an anti-terrorism law that will conform to all existing treaties against terrorism. Romulo said the team will be provided by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime's Terrorism Prevention Branch based in Vienna, Austria in response to the ongoing efforts of the Arroyo administration to come up with an anti-terrorism law. Romulo pointed out that the Philippines should come up with an anti-terrorism law that will conform to the provisions of the 12 international treaties to which the country is also a signatory. These include the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages.

"We are grateful to the UNODC for sharing their expertise and advice through this timely activity in aid of our efforts to enact laws against terrorism," Romulo said. "Through this workshop, the Philippines not only affirms its resolve to address this threat but also underscores the commitment to embark on this critical endeavor in partnership with the UN and the international community," he added. President Arroyo had certified the bill as urgent last week but failed to get the desired response from Congress, which has been focused on the passage of fiscal reform measures.
Link


Southeast Asia
Filippino cops deny terror suspects recycled
2005-02-25
PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo has commended the military and police for their "string of successes" against terrorism, but the four men whom the Philippine National Police yesterday paraded in Camp Crame have been in PNP custody since last December. "Definitely, they're not recycled," Chief Supt. Ismael Rafanan, director of the PNP Intelligence Group, said of the four men. "We purposely intended to withhold their presentation."

The four -- Indonesians Mohammad Nasir Hamid and Mohammed Yusop Karim Faiz and Malaysian Ted Yolanda, all alleged members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terrorist network, and Filipino Muhajir de la Merced, allegedly of the Abu Sayyaf -- were presented to the media under heavy security. De la Merced, supposedly a convert to Islam, shouted "Allahu akbar (God is great)!" while being ushered into the conference room.

The four have been in police custody since last Dec. 14, when they were arrested at the Zamboanga City port. Shortly before the announced press conference, Rafanan told reporters that the four men "did the planning and brought the fund" for the Valentine's Day bombings. He said the PNP announced their arrest only yesterday "because we had a lot of follow-ups to do, like the identification of the local components of the JI and Abu Sayyaf cells."

Among the cells identified is one based in Metro Manila, Rafanan said. But he did not elaborate, saying intelligence operatives were still working on the case. When asked at the press conference about the four men's actual participation in the Feb. 14 bombings, Rafanan said police were still "in the process of checking or verifying their possible involvement." "For now, we cannot officially link them to the three bombings," he said.

Rafanan's admission meant that so far, only two men -- Gamal "Tapay" Baharan and Angelo Trinidad -- had been arrested in connection with the bombings that killed eight people and wounded at least 150 others in the cities of Makati, Davao and General Santos. In an interview with ABS-CBN television last night, Trinidad broke down as he admitted planting and triggering the bomb that exploded inside a passenger bus in Makati. "I cannot deny it in front of you, and in front of God I cannot deny it. It is clear that I was the one who did it," he said. The report said he also admitted belonging to the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group.

Trinidad said that Abu Solaiman, a senior Abu Sayyaf leader, told him on Feb. 12 to assemble a bomb, then ordered him to plant it inside a bus. Trinidad said another bus originally was targeted. "When I looked at the back (of the bus), I saw a child, a baby around 6 months old carried by its father. I told myself I could not go through with this," he recalled, tears welling in his eyes.

He said he got off that bus and approached another. "I then picked a bus that did not have many passengers," he added. "I placed the bomb at the back and when we reached Ayala (Avenue), we got off. Then we boarded another bus and he said 'detonate it."'

It was not clear whether "he" referred to Solaiman or Baharan. Trinidad said he got the bomb-making materials from a cohort he identified only as Maidan, and that assembly took five hours.

To the question of how the purported planners managed to pull off the near-simultaneous bomb attacks despite being behind bars, Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said: "We cannot prevent everything. We cannot assure [the public] that we can catch everybody." The PNP intelligence chief, Director Robert Delfin, had his own explanation: "When you arrest one unit, there's still the possibility that another unit will do the same job."

Rafanan said the four men were in fact arrested for their alleged plot to bomb at least five targets in Metro Manila and Mindanao during the Christmas season. Among the targets were shopping malls and American soldiers participating in the RP-US Balikatan exercises, he said. "Before they could do their thing, they were picked up in our ports," said PNP Director General Edgar Aglipay. "So that means that compared with other countries in our region, we have a better way of monitoring [terrorists] and limiting their capability."

Reyes lamented that despite the evidence purportedly seized from the four men, police could charge them only with illegal possession of firearms and explosives and violating immigration laws. "Ideally, we should be able to charge them with conspiracy to commit terrorism, but because of the lack of an antiterrorism law, we have to charge them only with violation of the Revised Penal Code," Reyes said.

Rafanan said that as early as last Dec. 14, local authorities, in coordination with their foreign counterparts, had monitored the arrival of Hamid, Faiz and Yolanda from Sulawesi (Indonesia) and Sandakan (Malaysia). He said that two days later at around 3 p.m., intelligence operatives arrested the three along with De la Merced soon after they arrived at the Zamboanga City port. De la Merced was to serve as the "guide" of the others on their way to Camp Hudaibiya in Maguindanao, Rafanan claimed. The group was supposed to train local recruits in bomb-making.

Rafanan said two pistols, cellular phones, terrorist training books and substances and equipment used in bomb-making were seized from the group. He said the loot also included the amount of $7,000, allegedly to be used for five separate bombings, and a video supposed to be shown to the recruits in Camp Hudaibiya. The video, showing the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden inviting recruits to join the international terrorist effort, "clearly shows the connection between the JI and Bin Laden's al-Qaida network," Rafanan told reporters who were asked to view the footage.

Rafanan described Hamid, Faiz and Yolanda as "top-level" JI members involved in distributing funds and training recruits in the Philippines. Delfin said it was the JI that was coordinating terrorists' local efforts among the Abu Sayyaf, a group of Islamic converts, and renegade members of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front. "The JI does not operate here alone," Delfin said. "It taps local terrorists for a job."

At the time of their arrest, Hamid and company were supposed to train local recruits in making powerful explosives such as "helmet" bombs, "body" bombs and car bombs, Rafanan said. "It's quite alarming because they have reached that level," he said.

In a hastily called press conference hours before the four men were presented to the media, Ms Arroyo lauded the military and police for the "consistent success in the antiterrorism campaign."

In a speech at the oath-taking of 47 generals immediately preceding the press conference, she ordered the launch of "preemptive strikes" to prevent "borderless" terror groups from inflicting harm and sowing mayhem. "It is time to bring the issue to a higher plane of preemptive security," the President told the generals, including Gen. Efren Abu, the Armed Forces chief of staff, who now has four stars.

The oath-taking was coupled with the presentation of Metrobank's The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers 2004 in Malacañang's Rizal Hall. According to the President, "the perimeters of vigilance must be strengthened by stronger laws to identify, pinpoint and expose terrorists and to enable authorities to neutralize terrorist conspiracies before they can strike." She said public safety was a component of economic progress as much as political stability. "Our efforts to ensure national security goes hand-in-hand with the efforts designed to grow the economy and mop up the recruiting grounds of terrorists and lawless elements," she added.

Malacañang wants an Internal Security Act to contain terrorism, including the establishment of a national identification system. The President congratulated the uniformed services "for their string of successes in the past few days and weeks." She particularly commended the Intelligence Service of the AFP for the information that led to the arrests.

At Camp Aguinaldo, Lt. Gen. Allan Cabalquinto, chief of the AFP's National Region Command (NCRCom), told reporters that some 10 more members of the Abu Sayyaf were "lying low" in Metro Manila and being tracked by security forces. "It's not a big force but we are closely watching, monitoring, their possible hiding places," he said. "We cannot discount suspicion that they are up [to something]."

Cabalquinto assured the public that there was no immediate threat of a terrorist attack in Metro Manila. "... But our chokepoints and checkpoints and walk-the-beat patrols are continuing, especially at night," he said.
Link


Southeast Asia
Jemaah Islamiyah Arrests Thwarted Planned Terror Attacks in Philippines
2005-02-24
Police said Thursday they thwarted planned attacks on an airport, malls, a church and U.S. troops with the arrests of three members of an al-Qaida linked terror group who allegedly came to the Philippines to train Muslim militants to make bombs. The two Indonesians and a Malaysian - all alleged Jemaah Islamiyah members - were arrested in southern Zamboanga city in December along with a Filipino member of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim extremist group with bomb-making manuals, bomb parts and money for attacks, officials said. "We were able to foil an attempt to bring into the country terrorists with firearms, with training materials, with explosives, before they can do their thing," Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes told reporters as the men were presented to media. One of them shouted "Allahu fubar akbar!" - or "God is great."

The men allegedly belonged to a previously unknown Jemaah Islamiyah terror cell in the country, the authorities said. The arrests were not immediately announced to allow authorities time to identify six of their local comrades, one of whom has been arrested, said Chief Supt. Ismael Rafanan, head of the police Intelligence Group.
Excellent!
Police intelligence officials said the targets included a Roman Catholic church and the airport in the bustling port city of Davao, unspecified malls in Manila and U.S. soldiers participating in joint training with the Philippine military. Authorities recovered bomb components, about $7,000 and at least two pistols from the four, who were located in part due to intelligence provided by Indonesia and Malaysia. While under surveillance, they were monitored meeting some Abu Sayyaf members, officials said. The money was intended to finance the attacks and training to make explosives, including car bombs to be organized by Jemaah Islamiyah in the southern region of Mindanao, officials said.

The arrests are an indication of continuing collusion between foreign militants and local Muslim radicals. They also rekindled concerns over the government's limitations in dealing with terrorism and the need for the public to help guard against attacks. "We couldn't place an intelligence operative in every nook and corner of the country," Rafanan said. The four have been charged with illegal possession of explosives and firearms. The foreigners also violated immigration laws, they said. Rafanan said investigators were trying to verify whether the four have links with suspected Muslim militants responsible for three almost-simultaneous bombings that killed eight people in Manila, General Santos and Davao last week. Jemaah Islamiyah is blamed for several deadly attacks in Southeast Asia, including bombings on Indonesia's Bali island in 2002 that killed 202 people. Authorities also blame the group for a series of bomb attacks in Manila in December 2000 that left 22 people dead. Philippine security officials say Jemaah Islamiyah has worked with members of Abu Sayyaf, a small but brutal al-Qaida-linked group on a U.S. list of terror organizations, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a larger group which has been fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines.
Link


Southeast Asia
Valentine's Day massacre triggered by cell phones
2005-02-18
The Australian Federal Police have confirmed findings by local forensic experts that the explosives used in the Valentine's Day bombings in three major cities across the country were triggered by cellular phones, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Edgar Aglipay announced yesterday.

Aglipay said the Australian forensic experts "are confirming the report of our (PNP) Crime Laboratory" that all explosives used in the bombings in General Santos, Davao City and Makati City were activated by cell phones.

Aglipay said there were indications the bombers used TNT explosives.

"As of now, we can say that cellular phones were used in the bombings," he said.

Police said a 27-year-old engineer who was among the critically wounded in the Makati blast succumbed yesterday at the intensive care unit of the Ospital ng Makati.

Ronnie Soriano, a resident of Cabasaan street, Zone III, Signal Village, Taguig City, became the fourth casualty of the Makati bombing.

Chief Inspector Alfredo de la Cruz of the Makati police said they were not able to take any statements from Soriano after he was placed in intensive care shortly after the blast.

Aglipay said the PNP will coordinate further with the Australian police to determine if the Feb. 14 bombings were carried out in the same manner as the deadly nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia in October 2002 that left over 200 people dead and the Marriott Hotel bombing, also in Indonesia, in 2004. Both attacks have been blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) group.

"They are still in the process of gathering evidence in General Santos and we will again discuss this over the weekend," Aglipay said.

He said PNP investigators are collating all documentary and physical evidence, along with the testimonies of witnesses to ensure an airtight case is built up against the suspects.

"As I have said, the investigation is continuing at a very good pace and we will try to solve the bombings at the soonest possible time," Aglipay said. "We are continuously gathering evidence."

He said he is personally handling the investigation and bringing experts for his visit to the bombing sites in General Santos and Davao City.

When asked if the JI might have carried out the bombings, Aglipay refused to confirm this, pointing out their investigation has yet to be completed.

On the other hand, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Avelino Razon said they have identified three suspects in the bombing.

Razon declared they would arrest the bombing suspects "in due time," adding that Aglipay has been satisfied with investigations on their end focusing on the bus bombing in Makati.

"The chief PNP wants us to make sure that after their arrest, the suspects would rot in jail," he said.

At least 13 people were killed in the Valentine's Day bombings, with over 140 others wounded.

Superintendent Napoleon Taas, NCRPO intelligence chief, said the witnesses are now guiding police agents on a stakeout for the three still unnamed suspects somewhere in Metro Manila.

A witness has reportedly surfaced at the Makati police and agreed to help authorities identify the suspects behind the blasts.

Razon said the witness, known as "Francisco," has intimate knowledge of how the bomb was manufactured.

Aside from Francisco, Southern Police District (SPD) director Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Garcia said they have three witnesses helping the police identify the suspects.

Francisco, reportedly a resident of Culiat, Quezon City, is a walk-in witness. He earlier called "Patrol 117" and was instructed to show up at the Makati police station.

"We are still verifying all the information he has given us, but so far nothing has turned out to be positive, except his description of the suspects did corroborate the statement given by the bus driver and conductor (of the ill-fated bus)," Garcia said.

Last Monday's bomb attacks have forced Aglipay to shelve plans of attending the Interpol conference in France on Feb. 25 so that he could personally supervise the ongoing investigation.

He designated Director Rolando Garcia of the PNP Philippine Center for Transnational Crime as his representative at the Interpol conference.

Aglipay urged the public to remain vigilant and report all suspicious-looking characters and packages to discourage another terror attack.

Aglipay said the PNP remains on high alert in receiving "continuous threats" to the country's peace and order situation.

"We have a continuing threat, and we urge the people to be security conscious and inform the PNP if there are suspicious-looking persons in their barangays," Aglipay said.

For his part, Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes explained authorities are always working "on the assumption there is a threat."

"We work on the basis that there is a threat, there is a need for general vigilance not just on the part of the police but on the part of the entire community," he said.

Reyes, however, admitted that the government cannot guarantee that the public is 100 percent safe against terror attacks.
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-6 More