Gonzales blames New People’s Army for LTA building attack

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales virtually cleared local extremists for last Wednesday’s spate of attacks in Metro Manila and pointed an accusing finger instead at the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

Gonzales accused the NPA of carrying out the attacks as part of its "political" and "destabilization" move against the government.

"The attacks were not carried out by the traditional terrorists," Gonzales told Vice President Noli De Castro on the weekly radio program "Para Sa’yo… Bayan."

Speaking in Filipino, Gonzales cleared the Abu Sayyaf and homegrown terrorists in the attacks, claiming there were indications that they were launched for political reasons.

Unknown gunmen opened fire on a building owned by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo’s family in Makati City last Wednesday while a bomb exploded underneath a vehicle owned by Antipolo City Rep. Ronaldo Puno in Quezon City later in the afternoon.

Two more bombing incidents were reported in Parañaque and Caloocan City on the same day.

A group calling itself "Enlightened Warriors" claimed the attacks "symbolize the widespread frustration and anger among (Armed Forces of the Philippines) against the illegitimate and corrupt administration of Gloria Arroyo."

A certain "Miguel Alonzo" spoke on behalf of the group, sending e-mails claiming the four incidents were just "warning blows."

Police investigators led by National Capital Region Office (NCRPO) deputy director Chief Superintendent Juan Roasa Orani Jr. said reports of the group first appeared on the Internet.

Orani pointed out the group may not physically exist but may only be "a paper organization."

The AFP, for its part, denied the existence of the so-called Enlightened Warriors within its ranks and blamed the NPA for the attacks.

AFP chief Gen. Generoso Senga said initial military intelligence reports indicate the incidents were carried out by the NPA as part of efforts to destabilize and overthrow the government.