P1-M reward up for bus bombers

A concerned citizen, who wanted to remain anonymous, has offered a P1-million reward for anyone who can give information that could lead to the arrest of the terrorists who blew up a passenger bus in Balintawak, Quezon City last Friday.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said the identities of tipsters would be kept secret to ensure the cooperation of civilians.

"We are inspired by the support... of one of our concerned citizens who prefers to remain anonymous," he said.

"This reward strengthens the call for every citizen to be a bantay ng kapayapaan (guardian of the peace). We will win the peace by closing ranks and keeping our eyes and ears open," Ebdane said.

At Camp Crame, a ranking police official said yesterday that the bomb that ripped through the Golden Hi-way bus Friday, killing two people and wounding at least 19 others, was composed of TNT combined with tetryl, both regulated substances.

PNP Crime Laboratory director Senior Superintendent Restituto Mosqueda said TNT and tetryl are commonly supplied to the police and military, and characterized as "high explosives."

Superintendent Warlito Tubon, explosives and ordnance division chief of the PNP Crime Lab, said "both substances create the chemical reaction which causes high impact when exploded. These are used as boosters."

The crime lab officials said they have yet to reach conclusive findings on whether the type of explosive used in the Golden Hi-way bus was the same as the one used in the Rizal Day bombings in 2000.

Ebdane said all citizens must do their part in keeping the country safe from terrorists in the wake of the bombings in Zamboanga City and Metro Manila.

"Together our vigilance and our cooperation will help us contain the threat of terrorism," he said.

Ebdane said the public must be "STRONG — Stay calm, Take proper precautions at home and at work, Report incidents or information to 117 immediately, Organize monitoring groups in the neighborhood and workplace, Neutralize rumors or unverified text messages, and Get back to normal routines, business as soon as possible."

"Government efforts are complemented by community contributions during each of three phases of intelligence, hardening the target, and incident management," he said.

Meanwhile, a top Quezon City police official, who asked for anonymity, said the New People’s Army (NPA) and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) could have carried out last Friday’s bombing.

The police official said an intelligence agent "strongly indicated" that the bombing was a "test mission" for the NPA-JI demolition team out to sow terror in Metro Manila.

"The alliance of the two groups is very possible because both perceive one common enemy – the government," the official said. "They now join together to execute the same goal ... to destabilize the government."

The police official said intelligence reports showed that a terrorist bombing would have been carried out in Metro Manila everyday as part of the "test" mission.

"They could have decided to abort the plan of attack last Sunday because of the Friday night incident," he said. "They want to cool down for a while."

The police official said one of those who died in the bus explosion could be an accomplice of the person who suddenly jumped out of the bus a few minutes before the bomb went off.

"It is possible that since this was a test mission, that since they are still under training technically, the victim might have mistakenly touched some parts of the bomb so it exploded (prematurely)."

The JI could have carried out last Friday’s bombing of a passenger bus in Balintawak and the attack on another bus along EDSA in Cubao two years ago, the Quezon City police official added.

However, communist rebel leaders denied yesterday that the NPA was involved in the series of terrorist bombings in Zamboanga City and Metro Manila.

In a statement, Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said the NPA follows "strict rules" in protecting the lives of civilians during its 33 years of rebellion against the government.

"The New People’s Army is not in any way involved in the bombings," read part of the statement.

Rosal said military allegations of NPA involvement in the bombings are "outrightly twisted propaganda" aimed at tarnishing the image of the rebels.

"These are mere figments of imagination of psywar operatives who concoct ways to tarnish the image of the NPA," read part of the statement.

However, Rosal said the NPA attacks on police stations and military detachments in far-flung barangays are "legitimate targets" as part of the "civil war" between the rebels and the government.

"The Philippine military has a hard time slandering the NPA because of the extremely fine record of the NPA in upholding the interests of the people and securing their welfare," he said. — With Benjie Villa