Woman in Divisoria bomb plot being sought by cops

The hunt for her has started as the Manila police released the sketch of a woman who tried to slip in ammonium nitrate for a bomb being assembled by terrorists in the busy Divisoria Mall in Binondo last Monday.

Western Police District (WPD) Intelligence operatives described the woman as about 23 years old, around 5'3" tall, weighing about 140 pounds, fair complexioned and of medium built.

The sketch was based on the description made by Divisoria Mall security guard Rolly Valdez, who found the powdery substance in the bag of the suspect at around 12:40 p.m. last Monday while she was about to enter the Comercio street entrance of the mall. The woman immediately fled after Valdez lifted the plastic bag containing the chemicals out of her bag leaving the guard puzzled and surprised.

The foiled bombing prompted mall officials to further tighten security in its premises, said Binondo police commander Superintendent Josephus Angan.

"We are concentrating on the mall's security, it will be the (WPD) District Intelligence and Investigation Division which will handle the case," said Angan.

Suspicion that a bomb was being smuggled piece by piece into the mall arose only after guards found three nine-volt batteries in two different locations in the shopping center later in the day. The batteries reportedly had wires attached to them.

The belief that a bombing had just been foiled was boosted when the powdery substance left behind by the woman turned out to be an explosive component. The discoveries were only reported to police at noon of Tuesday.

The recent SM Megamall blast, which killed one and wounded 17 others, has prompted malls to tighten security. All bags of customers are now being inspected by security guards.

The bomb that ripped through SM Megamall was planted in a cinema comfort room.