MILF suicide bomber tagged

DAVAO CITY — A member of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with explosives strapped to his body is believed responsible for the deadly bombing at the Davao City International Airport last Tuesday, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said yesterday.

Reyes said the MILF suicide bomber, identified as Montasher Sudang, 23, a resident of Kabacan, North Cotabato, was among the 21 people listed as fatalities in the blast.

Defense department spokesman Lt. Col. Danilo Servando said Sudang carried a backpack containing the explosives that ripped through a waiting lounge at the airport Tuesday.

"Sudang was one of the fatalities in the Davao blast," Servando said. "He was the bomb carrier."

It was not immediately clear, however, if the suspect planned to leave the package in the airport or if he planned to die in the attack.

"What is confirmed here is he (Sudang) is an MILF member. The investigators are now theorizing that he was the (suicide) bomber," Servando said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu, on the other hand, said the government claim that Sudang was the bomber was "a total lie" and part of a campaign to discredit the group.

"That is a part of psy-war (psychological warfare) because we are still at war with the government," he said.

Kabalu, however, admitted Sudang was an MILF member. He claimed Sudang was at the airport at the time of the explosion only to fetch his sister who was arriving from abroad.

Kabalu also dismissed earlier statements that suspected MILF members had been arrested for the blasts, saying "we don’t have to worry about that... None of them are MILF."

Authorities earlier detained five suspected MILF rebels shortly after the late afternoon bombing took place.

The five were later identified as members of the MILF whose names supposedly appeared in the "order of battle" of the military.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who is coordinating efforts to hunt down the bombing suspects, said they are filing criminal charges against the MILF.

He said the government will file multiple murder charges against the MILF, not only for the Davao bombings, but also "for all the other bombings that happened before in many other places in Mindanao."

"If they (MILF) want peace, we will give them peace. But if they want war, I will give it to them. Hell must be waiting for us with great expectations now," he said.

In a highly emotional voice, Duterte said he is declaring war with the MILF.

"We will have to bite the bullet this time. Nobody has the monopoly of evil here. What you can do, I can do better. We’ll just to face it this time and we have to square off with these extremists," he said.

Evidence of the bomber’s identity was recovered from the blast site, which investigators then cross-checked on a roster of MILF recruits that was recovered by a military unit following the clash in Kabacan with an MILF band sometime in 2000, records from the defense department showed.

Sudang had apparently joined the MILF soon after he turned 16. He holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the MILF hierarchy.

But Reyes said it may be premature to accuse Sudang in the blast. "There is this document (from the Buliok complex in the former MILF stronghold in Pikit, North Cotabato) but we have to evaluate it," he said.

Documents also obtained from the defense department said Sudang was probably attached to a Davao-area MILF unit led by a certain Jibran Ali bin Davao.

Police sources also named Mastura Gumawan, the senior leader of the MILF forces in the Cotabato region that includes Kabacan, as the one who "directed" the Davao attack.

The MILF’s Davao commander, Ibrahim Lais, was against the plot, the sources added.

"We are gathering documentary, physical and testimonial evidence to prove that a group of individuals has done it," said Philippine National Police (PNP) operations chief Deputy Director General Edgardo Aglipay.

Aglipay said information from some of those detained "will be used so as to be able to have a strong case in court when (investigators) file the case against the perpetrators."

Southern Mindanao police director Chief Superintendent Isidro Lapena said those earlier detained "could either be witnesses or suspects."

"These are people we believe who may have information that could shed light into the incident," Lapena said.

Justice Undersecretary Jose Calida, for his part, claimed he was told by police investigators that a pipe bomb apparently tied to a timing device was used in the blast.

The military has blamed MILF rebels for a string of attacks, including a car bombing at nearby Cotabato airport last month.

The government earlier dismissed claims of responsibility by the Abu Sayyaf, a heavily armed kidnap gang with alleged ties to the al-Qaeda network of Islamic militants blamed for terror attacks against US interests.

Aside from the lone American fatality in Davao, Baptist missionary William Hyde, another US national, Barbara Stevens is still listed in critical condition.

No outside help

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo said no evidence has been found linking the Davao City bombing to any foreign terrorist group.

Citing intelligence reports, Domingo said it appears that the Davao bombings were the handiwork of local terrorists.

She said that prior to the Tuesday blasts, around 50 MILF guerrillas were spotted massing up in Davao but Immigration operatives were not able to determine their intentions.

The claim boosted reports that the MILF may be behind the bomb attacks, she said.

Domingo said their Davao immigration office has also been secured as more bombings are expected. She also warned that terrorists in Mindanao may resort to targeting personalities in their attacks.

"Right now our alien control officers are on the highest alert to be on the lookout for foreign terrorists who may be in our blacklist but managed to slip into the country," she said.

Undersecretary Datu Zamzamin Ampatuan, Office of Muslim Affairs chief, also claimed MILF chief Hashim Salamat issued a coded directive to his men to bomb the Davao airport "to hurt Christian communities and the Philippine government" to force the issue of negotiation.

He said the bombings were also intended to take the heat off their forces from government offensives.

Ampatuan said the claim made by Abu Sayyaf that they were responsible for the bombings was also intended to keep the MILF away from the theater of terrorism.

"The MILF wants to sow terror and fear so that they will have a strong bargaining power and dictate to the government their terms in the peace process," he said.

The Muslim leader claimed the denial made by the MILF was only intended to project an image that they are suing for peace while casting doubts that they were the ones responsible.

Wrong guys

Even as authorities pointed an accusing finger at the MILF, some quarters expressed doubts on the identity of the suspects.

Local officials in Kabacan where the suspect, Sudang, is reportedly a resident, called on the police and military to make a background check on him.

Sources from the Muslim community said investigators could have presumed outright that Sudang was Montaser Guiday, a bombing suspect arrested in Cotabato City last year for attempting to bomb the dean’s office of the Cotabato City College.

Guiday, who confessed to be an MILF member, admitted that he was sent on a test mission together with a dozen other recruits before he was arrested.

Cedric Mantawil, executive assistant of Kabacan town Mayor Luzviminda Tan, claimed Sudang came from a humble farming family.

"He (Sudang) was there to meet a relative-OFW from the Middle East. He was, in fact, a relative of barangay officials in Barangay Simoni and nearby barangays," Mantawil said.

"We are certain it could be Montaser Guiday, not Montaser Sudang," added a Muslim missionary, who asked not to be identified.

The militant Bayan Muna also issued a statement citing "remarkable signs" that the arrested suspects were only civilian residents used by the authorities "to make it appear they were not empty-handed when they face the President."

"The military has been quickly jumping to conclusions, routinely pinning the blame on the MILF, while steering clear from other possible angles," said Bayan Muna deputy secretary general Robert de Castro.

Even the bandit group Abu Sayyaf, through their spokesman Hamsiraji Sali, maintained they carried out the Davao airport bombing.

Sali told radio station dzRH that their main target was the airport itself where there are less people, not the waiting shed.

He said those arrested by the military are the wrong people and the bomb was wrongly placed.

Sali said the bombing was carried out for the purpose of scaring investors away from Mindanao.

"We are giving warning to all the businessmen and investors here and abroad not to go here in the airports of Mindanao for there will be more bombings expected here," Sali said. "Mindanao belongs to the Muslims and this place is ours."

As if on cue, Singapore Airlines’ regional carrier SilkAir yesterday suspended flights to Davao following the bomb attack.

"We are making assessment of the safety and security and once they meet our requirements we will resume our flights," SilkAir spokeswoman Corinth de Cotta said.

Philippine Airlines (PAL), on the other hand, said they will still continue their flights to Davao.

"You can count on PAL’s support and assistance as you seek to rebuild and restore confidence in business and tourism in the region," said Lucio Tan, PAL chairman.

Further condemnations

President Arroyo, who condemned the Davao bombing as a "brazen act of terrorism," has proposed a peace agreement with the MILF, but the rebels said they will not negotiate unless government troops withdraw from their former stronghold in Pikit, North Cotabato.

Mrs. Arroyo, however, initiated "diplomatic initiatives" in urging the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to isolate Filipino-Muslim extremists and factions identified with MILF hardline leaders.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the diplomatic initiatives will be spearheaded by presidential adviser on special concerns Norberto Gonzalez and presidential adviser for the peace process Eduardo Ermita with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

"Diplomatic initiatives must reinforce our efforts. We are working closely with Islamic countries to isolate all terrorist cells in Mindanao and deprive them legitimacy or clandestine foreign support," Bunye said.

Duterte, for his part, called on the government to scrap plans for peace negotiations with the MILF saying it would be "useless."

Former President Joseph Estrada, however, said the spate of bombings carried out by terrorists "reflects the almost total breakdown of law and order prevailing in the country today."

In a statement, Estrada urged the government to redouble their efforts in ensuring the safety of citizens through forceful action.

"Our officials must be reminded that violence becomes an everyday occurrence only when government is perceived to be powerless to stop it," he said.

The New Zealand government also expressed sympathy for the families of the victims in the blast.

In a meeting with Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople in Wellington, parliament officials led by Speaker Jonathan Hunt said all countries must now unite to fight terrorism.

"It’s an awful thing and we have a great deal of sympathy for the victims of this terrorist attack," Hunt said. — With Marichu Villanueva, Bong Fabe, John Unson, Christina Mendez, Katherine Adraneda, Perseus Echeminada, Jose Aravilla, Roel Pareño, Sandy Araneta, Aurea Calica, AFP