Tom to substantially reward bomb tipsters

Mayor Tomas Osmeña is giving a substantial reward to the security guard and the man who tipped authorities of the bomb left near the entrance of a mall at the North Reclamation Area the other night.

While no specific amount was divulged just yet, Osmeña said it is an amount that would "make other people jealous".

The purpose of the reward, Osmeña said, is to encourage other residents in the city to follow the example set by the man who reported the suspicious box to authorities. The mayor said he wants to establish a vigilant community especially during the ASEAN summit.

"An alert public is what saves Cebu," Osmeña said.

Osmeña believes those who planted the bomb may have been trained in making the explosive, something that not any civilian can normally do.

"This is a kind of discipline that needs training, something not available to the general public," he said.

While authorities have accosted the suspected bombers, what the mayor continues to fear is that they may still have accomplices in the city.

It is about time, he said, that the city taps the training it has organized in the grassroots level, like the security groups organized in the different churches. In the near future, the so-called "Bantay Silingan" program would also be implemented to teach residents how to detect suspicious characters in their neighborhood.

Authorities shot dead a certain Ali Usof and his companion Datu Ulama, believed to be the ones who left the box that contained the bomb. The two were taken down following a chase that ended at S. Soriano Street. Both suffered gunshot wounds and were declared dead at the Cebu City Medical Center.

The suspects were identified through an ID and automated teller machine cards found in their possession. - Joeberth M. Ocao