MANILA, Philippines - Victims in the grenade explosion at the conclusion of this year’s Bar exams in Manila last September could have not been the actual target, an investigator said.
An official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) privy to follow-up operations revealed that they have received information that the suspect lobbed the MK2-type grenade at the wrong group in the crowd on Taft Avenue.
“It was accidental in the sense that those who sustained several levels of injuries from the explosion were not really the target,” the source told The STAR over the phone yesterday.
“We are now establishing which group the attack was targeted at. We have our lead,” the official added.
The NBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said information they have gathered shows that the primary suspect, Anthony Nepomuceno of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity, accidentally removed the pin from the grenade while looking for his target.
“It seems he got scared when he removed the pin, that’s why he just threw it to the center of the group nearest him,” the source said.
Most of the 50 victims were female students from San Beda College of Law, 32 of them members of the college-based Alpha Phi Beta (APB) sorority and League of Lady Barristers.
“We are looking at an attack possibly planned by a group, perhaps a fraternity, and everybody knows that it’s a no-no for a fraternity to attack a sorority,” the source said.
Believing that the attack was “planned,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has directed the NBI to establish the motive.
She earlier revealed that investigators were looking at “some sort of fraternity war with a little twist” as possible motive behind the explosion.
Fratmen condemn grenade throwing
The San Beda APB urged investigators to pursue the probe and get the mastermind to serve justice to its wounded members.
Lawyer Francisco de Guzman, alumni lord chancellor of the fraternity, said in a statement that their organization believes that the Bar blast was not a mere case of “reckless imprudence or pure accident.”
“It was a meticulously planned, well-orchestrated and perfectly executed conspiracy. From our perspective, its purpose was not just to kill innocent people in cold blood but to sow terror and create a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the legal community,” he said.
For the first time, the San Beda APB publicly condemned the attack.
“We are not bloodthirsty war freaks or limelight-seeking gangsters. It is those who masterminded and executed the bombing who, by such brutal and public attack, have declared war, not only against us, but against the entire legal profession, especially academe,” De Guzman said.
He said his “brothers” have kept quiet all throughout the ordeal because they have chosen, sans fanfare, to attend to the various needs of those maimed, wounded and traumatized by the harrowing experience.
“We are a peace-loving, school-based organization. We do not pick fights with others just because of petty jealousy. We do not insult, provoke, bully or harass students inside the campus nor do we ambush them outside school gates,” he said.
“The chilling message of the ruthless and arrogant bombers and their coddlers was loud and clear: ‘We are above the law. We are the law. We can hit anyone we want, anytime we want, anywhere we want... and get away with it,’” he added.
Conspiracy theory
The NBI is now hunting down two unidentified men who allegedly helped Nepomuceno escape from four fratmen who tried to subdue him while running away from the blast site.
A cartographic sketch of one of the two other suspects was released last Thursday. The NBI said the man was about 23 to 24 years old, 5’7” to 5’9” in height and stocky, and poked a .45-caliber pistol with his left hand at the group of men.
In filing the charges of multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder against Nepomuceno, the NBI cited the testimonies of a female law student, a pedicab driver and an eatery owner.
The first witness told investigators that she saw a suspicious-looking male carrying a dark-colored backpack with a touch of gray, wearing wide dark sunglasses and half of his face covered with a dark handkerchief, walk from the direction of Tapa King on Taft Avenue around 10 minutes past 5 p.m. last Sept. 26.
“After a few minutes, (the suspect) turned and faced toward St. Benilde’s gate. Suddenly, unexpected by the victims, (the suspect) treacherously lobbed a grenade directed to the southbound side of Taft Avenue and after a few seconds a loud explosion occurred,” the NBI complaint stated.
It was discovered that the suspect fled toward the direction of Estrada Street, but was impeded by four members of Beta Sigma Lambda fraternity upon reaching a coffee shop after the witness shouted for help.
“Harangin nyo! Harangin nyo! Sya yung nagpasabog!” shouted the witness, according to the NBI.
But while tackling the suspect, two men came to the suspect’s rescue. One of them even pointed a gun at one of the four men.
“The man who held the gun was seen pressing the trigger but by some cause other than his own spontaneous desistance the gun did not go off. Anxious of the gunman the fratmen backed down. Thus, the trio was able to wiggle free and ran toward the path going to Estrada Street,” the NBI said.
The second witness told investigators that he saw the suspect, pale and panting, hide inside a red pickup after the scuffle. Two women and another man then also boarded the vehicle and covered the suspect before they went to Good Choice restaurant along Leon Guinto Street.
It was found out later, based on the statement of the third witness, that the APO rented the eatery beside the Good Choice restaurant for their Bar operations for the four Sundays of the exams.
De Lima said the suspect would undergo preliminary investigation to determine if there is ample evidence to file the case in court. She has opted to leave the creation of the investigating panel of fiscals to Prosecutor General Claro Arellano.
“It will go through the usual process. And since this will undergo preliminary investigation proper, I’ll be hands off on this henceforth,” she said, citing the possibility that the findings of the prosecutors would eventually be submitted to her office for review.
She added that her department could place the eyewitnesses under its witness protection program, if the NBI sees the need for it.