Twin blasts rock Metro

MANILA, Philippines - Two explosions rocked the main office of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in Mandaluyong City and the Puregold supermarket in Quezon City yesterday.

Metro police chief Director Roberto Rosales ordered the Quezon City and Eastern Police Districts to pursue all leads to catch those behind the blasts.

Rosales dismissed initial reports that the twin explosions were related to labor problems in the two companies.

He said he talked to the management of Puregold and was assured that there is no such labor problem in the company.

EPD Director Chief Superintendent Benjardi Mantele, on the other hand, said their coordination with SMC also shows no labor-related problem that could be the motive for the explosion at the SMC office.

The twin explosions are the fourth incident in Metro Manila since last month, according to the NCRPO.

The first explosion occurred at the SMC main office located at the corner of Julia Vargas and San Miguel Avenues in Mandaluyong City at about 3:02 a.m.

Reports showed that security guard Jesus Cabigayan, 33, of Megaforce Integrated Security Agency, heard a loud explosion while patrolling the perimeter of the establishment.

Cabigayan rushed to the area and was met by a thick cloud of smoke. He immediately reported the incident to his superior, and together they scoured the area but found no unusual movements of people or vehicles.

The explosion caused minimal damage to the SMC sign in front of the building.

Nobody was injured in the incident.

A team headed by Senior Inspector Darlito Aceveda, chief of the explosives and ordnance division (EOD) of the EPD, conducted post blast investigation at the explosion site.

Aceveda collected soil samples to identify the explosives used.

A team led by Superintendent Irene Rigonan of the Bomb Data Center of the Philippine National Police (PNP) conducted a parallel investigation.

‘High-explosion device’ used

Inspector Arnulfo Franco, head of the Quezon City Police District’s Explosive and Ordnance Division, said the improvised explosive device created a 3.5-centimeter crater on the ground outside Puregold, indicating that the bomb was not a pillbox or any “low-explosion device.”

“It was definitely a high-explosion device because a low-explosion bomb cannot create a crater. However, we still cannot determine the component of this improvised explosive device at the moment,” Franco said.

Franco said security guard Joel Galmurin was going around the building before 5 a.m. when he saw a man climbing the stairway leading to the store.

The man reportedly tossed a plastic bag that emitted white smoke leading to an explosion after about five seconds.

Witnesses in the area earlier saw the man alight from a taxicab and later fled on board the same cab driven by another person.

Franco said another security guard noted that he had seen a man on a motorcycle going back and forth outside the supermarket on Sunday. He noted that the supermarket did not receive any threat prior to yesterday’s explosion.

Just like in the case of the bomb that went off at One Burgundy Plaza on Katipunan Street in Quezon City on Oct. 30, the device that exploded outside Puregold yesterday had a time fuse.

San Diego added that they would compare the explosive at Puregold and the one that exploded outside the SMC building to check for any possible signature to determine if the two incidents were related.

“Or it could also be that the intention (behind the explosion outside Puregold) was just to harass the owner. Definitely it was not a terrorist act because the intention was not to hurt anyone,” he said.

Superintendent Nestor Abalos, QCPD intelligence division chief, also noted apparent similarities in the two recent explosions in Quezon City, citing that the bombs at One Burgundy Plaza and Puregold were lobbed and not planted.

Both structures were located on major thoroughfares, making it possible for those behind the incidents to easily flee the scene.

On June 29, unexploded C-4 bombs were found separately at the compound of the Department of Agriculture and One Burgundy Plaza.

C-4 is an explosive commonly used by the military. One Burgundy Plaza is condominium building whose penthouse was once occupied by President Arroyo and her family.

The incidents at the DA compound and One Burgundy Plaza last June happened a day after the bombing at the Office of the Ombudsman. The three are all located in Quezon City. Another bomb scare hit the Office of the Ombudsman later that week but it turned out to be a hoax. – Renir Padua