No clues yet on North Cotabato department store bombing

KABACAN, North Cotabato - Probers are still uncertain about the identities of the people responsible for the bombing of a department store here that left a pregnant woman dead and 18 others wounded even as local leaders are blaming the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the incident.

Senior Superintendent Abelardo Villacorta, Region 12 police intelligence chief, said the North Cotabato police are still gathering vital information on the circumstances surrounding the attack.

Thursday's bombing occurred amid the continuing sporadic hostilities between state and MILF forces in nearby Carmen town.

Kabacan Mayor Wilfredo Bataga said in a statement that MILF rebels opposed to the municipal government's relentless campaign against drug trafficking and extortion were behind the bombing.

Citing intelligence reports, Bataga said two MILF leaders are holding out, along with their forces, in Pikit town, some 20 kilometers south of Kabacan.

Bataga said the bombing could have been perpetrated to divert the attention of government forces pounding on MILF positions in Carmen since Jan. 30.

Politicians in North Cotabato, including Gov. Emmanuel Piñol and Rep. Anthony Dequina, condemned the attack yesterday, branding it a pure act of "terrorism" which is counter-productive to peace efforts in the South.

Muhaquer Icbal, MILF information officer, however, denied anew the alleged involvement of their forces in the incident, lashing at Piñol, Bataga and Dequiña for what he called "imprudent conclusions."

"This is a conspiracy of the government to (destroy) the sympathy of the public for whom we are fighting for freedom," added Shariff Julabbi, MILF senior adviser and chairman for Western Mindanao.

A pregnant woman, Josita Facura, 34, was blasted to death while 18 others, two of them infants, were wounded in the bomb explosion inside the Sugni Superstore along the national highway at the town proper of Kabacan.

The improvised bomb, according to probers, was made of a live round of an 81-mm mortar, a contraption of incendiary chemicals, shredded cast iron and a battery-operated timing device.

Only 14 of the wounded victims were confined in hospitals. The four other victims suffered only superficial wounds, radio reports said.

Since the owner of the department store has not received any extortion demand from any group, investigators initially ruled out the possibility that the atrocity could have been perpetrated by extortionists.

Dequina, a member of the government panel negotiating with the MILF, said there has been a pattern of divertionary attacks by rebel groups in the province, "when there is tension and pressure in their territories."

Meanwhile, the technical committees of the government and MILF peace panels will meet on Monday in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao to finalize the agenda of the formal talks.

The two panels are working out another ceasefire agreement in a bid to stop skirmishes in Carmen, North Cotabato, that have already killed at least 30 people and displaced about 12,000 villagers.- With Roel Pareño, Edith Regalado