Prosecutor Al Calica said he found strong evidence that Indonesians Dulmatin, who goes by one name, and Umar Patek helped at least 23 MILF guerrillas launch the attack, which also wounded 28 people and turned a night of revelry into tragedy in Makilala town.
"The message is that if people commit a crime, especially these bombings, they cannot get away with it," he said.
If found guilty, the militants, who are all at large, could face a maximum 40-year prison term.
Congress abolished the death penalty earlier this year.
Meanwhile, it may take weeks to confirm whether the body found buried in Sulu is that of Khadaffy Janjalani, the elusive leader of the al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf terror group, military officials said yesterday.
Marine Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, whose troops recovered the decomposing remains, said he had been informed by US authorities that the results of the tests would be available "within three weeks."
Former Abu Sayyaf members led troops to the body hidden in a shallow grave in the jungles of Jolo in Sulu on Wednesday.
Sabban said tissue samples from the body had been taken to Metro Manila for testing by police forensics experts.
US Embassy spokesman Matt Lussenhop said US investigators were helping with the probe but could not say how long it would take before the results are made public.
"With laboratory tests, it can take some time," he said.
It would be up to the Philippine government to make any announcement, he added.
At Malacañang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent forensic experts to conduct DNA tests on the remains.
"We will find out in the coming days (if the remains belong to Janjalani) through a bone marrow test," he said.
On the other hand, a source in Sulu said it is possible that the skeletal remains recovered by Marines in a shallow grave in Jolo could be that of Ismin Sahiron, son of Abu Sayyaf commander Radullan Sahiron.
"While I am not sure yet, there is a possibility that the remains were those of Ismin," the source said. "The younger Sahiron was killed last September in an encounter with Marines."
The latest information is that Janjalani and his men were seen on a Volvo twin-engine watercraft some where in Central Mindanao, the source said.
The former followers of Janjalani want "protection" for themselves in exchange for leading the Marines to his alleged grave site in Patikul in Jolo.
Sabban said they did not set any condition in exchange for their surrender and the information.
"There was no condition or demand set by the former Abu Sayyaf except that we constructed their mosque and gave them protection," he told The STAR in a long distance telephone interview.
About 3:16 p.m. on Dec. 27, Marines guided by one of the informants located the grave in sitio Kan-undal, Barangay Darayan and recovered the skeletal remains believed to be that of Janjalani.
The Abu Sayyaf chieftain was reported to have died from infection due to a serious wound sustained at the back of his upper right thigh during a military offensive last Sept. 4.
Samples of the skeletal remains believed to be Janjalani’s were brought to Metro Manila for DNA testing.
Earlier, Sabban said it would be hard for them to get sample tissues from Janjalani’s family for the DNA testing.
The needed sample could be taken from Hector Janjalani, who is serving 40 years at the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa, for DNA testing, he added.
Sabban said it was likely that the skeletal remains are those of Janjalani because those who helped locate the bones were with the Abu Sayyaf chief during the encounter with government troops.
"They were there with the group of Janjalani during the series of encounters and they claimed they want to report something that has been kept secret," he said.
A big question is now hanging as to who would be collecting the huge reward that Janjalani carried on his head.
If indeed the skeletal remains belong to Janjalani, he was killed in a military operation and not due to information from civilians.
Under the reward provision soldiers are not entitled to a reward.
Under the US Reward For Justice (RFJ) program, Janjalani carried up to $5-million bounty reward for the kidnapping and murder of American nationals during the Dos Palmas kid-napping in Palawan on May 27, 2001 where the hostages were taken to Basilan.
Apart from Janjalani, Abu Sayyaf commanders included in the $5-million reward are Isnilon Hapilon, Jainal Antel Sali Jr. alias Abu Solaiman, and Hamsiraji Sali and Abu Sabaya.
Sali and Sabaya were killed a few years back.
The US govern-ment have already given $1-million to three civilians who helped in "neutra-lizing" Hamsiraji Sali in Basilan in 2005.
The reward for Sabaya was not released as he was killed in a military operation in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte on June 2002, barely a week after troops rescued American Gracia Burnham in the adjacent town of Sirawai. — AP, Roel Pareño, John Unson, Jaime Laude, Aurea Calica, AFP