Sayyaf planning new Metro attack?

The Abu Sayyaf terrorist group is allegedly planning to launch another attack in Metro Manila on Feb. 14, much like last year’s bombing of a passenger bus that killed four people and wounded nearly a hundred others in Makati City, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official warned the public yesterday.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and the DOJ are now working together to prevent another attack.

"We have filed a new case of rebellion against a number of individuals before the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC). They are already here in Metro Manila," warned Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco of the DOJ in an interview with The STAR yesterday.

Velasco said the PNP and the ISAFP separately uncovered the Abu Sayyaf’s plan to launch anew a bombing attack in Metro Manila supposedly to show the police and the military that the local terrorist group is still strong.

"They want to make a statement and tell everyone that they are still a force to reckon with," Velasco said.

He said the PNP and the military do not want to alarm the public but at the same time they are taking the threat seriously.

Velasco declined to reveal more details of the case and those charged so as not to jeopardize ongoing police and AFP operations.

He said the Abu Sayyaf members who will carry out the attack have been identified by Gappal Bannah Asali, alias "Boy Negro," a former Abu Sayyaf member himself.

Asali, who turned state witness to pin down those responsible for last year’s Valentine’s Day bombing, was able to identify them through surveillance photographs.

"The case has been filed in court now, I signed the charge sheet yesterday," Velasco said, as he expects the court to issue arrest and search warrants within the next 10 days.

Just this Wednesday, a supposed bomb threat raised fear in Makati City after a package was found in a flowerbox near the Rufino Tower along Ayala Avenue.

The package, which was carefully opened by Makati policemen using a cable, turned out to be an empty box wrapped in Christmas wrapper.

"The PNP is not taking the threat lightly. These Abu Sayyaf operatives are waiting to catch the police off-guard," Velasco said.

Looking back

February 14, 2005 will be remembered as the day terrorists painted the town red — not with decorative hearts, but with blood when they bombed a passenger bus in the heart of Makati City.

Four died and many others were injured in the attack, making it the biggest crime story to hit Makati City, if not the whole of Metro Manila, last year. Two other cities in Mindanao — General Santos and Davao — were simultaneously targeted in the attack.

Seconds after the bombing of the RRCG bus along EDSA near the Ayala Avenue station of the Metro Rail Transit at around 7:30 p.m., police and ambulance sirens, along with screams and crying of victims, rocked the country’s financial capital.

It was the biggest and bloodiest terror attack to hit Metro Manila since the Dec. 30, 2000 Light Rail Transit (LRT) bombing which killed 22 people.

Eight months later, three of those charged with the bombing were sentenced to death by the Makati City regional trial court.

The conviction of Indonesian national Rohmat Abdurrohim and Abu Sayyaf members Angelo Trinidad and Gammal Baharan marked a triumph against terrorism.

All three were sentenced to die by lethal injection after being found guilty of multiple murder and frustrated multiple charges with Asali serving as the government’s main witness.

MCRTC Branch 60 Judge Marissa Guillen also ordered them to pay their victims’ families more than P1.4 million in moral and exemplary damages.

Rohmat, who allegedly has links with the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, became the first Indonesian national to be convicted of a terrorist crime in the Philippines.

Velasco said the case would be automatically elevated to the Supreme Court for review since the lower court handed down a death sentence.

The conviction resulted in the filing of more charges against Abu Sayyaf leaders and members of the militant Rajah Solaiman Movement.

The victims of last year’s Valentine’s Day terrorist attack are now awaiting the High Tribunal’s decision on whether to make the lower court’s order final and executory.

Velasco said he doubts the order to pay the victims damages will be carried out since Rohmat, Trinidad, and Baharan are likely to say "mamamatay na rin lang kami, bakit pa kami magbabayad (Why do we have to pay when we are going to die anyway)?"

Velasco said the important thing is that the justice system worked and those who killed innocent civilians would pay the ultimate price.