DOJ summons AFP chief, 11 others in reinvestigation of Glorietta blast

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has summoned Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Ricardo David Jr. to its reinvestigation on the Oct. 19, 2007 explosion in Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City that killed 11 people and wounded over 100 others.

Also invited is retired Army colonel Allan Sollano, former head of the Army Explosive and Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit, who claimed that the blast was caused by an explosive device and not leakage of methane gas as concluded by the earlier probe conducted by the previous administration.

The first hearing of the reinvestigation to be conducted by Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong and State Prosecutor Gino Paolo Santiago will be held on Nov. 18 at 3 p.m. at the multipurpose hall of the DOJ, according to a notice released by the justice department yesterday.

The panel has also invited 10 other personalities to the hearing, namely: Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, president/chief executive officer of Ayala Corp.; Antonino Aquino, president/CEO of Ayala Land, Inc.; Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dir. Gen. Raul Bacalzo; Supt. Albert Ignatius Ferro, chief of operations management division of the PNP maritime group; Insp. Edilberto Capacete Jr., directorate for operations of PNP; Chief Insp. Victor Drapete, chief of chemistry division of PNP crime laboratory service; chief of Phil. Bomb Data Center of PNP; chief of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of PNP; chief of police of Makati City; and National Bureau of Investigation Director Magtanggol Gatdula.

In an interview, Ong said all 12 are just invited and are not compelled to attend the fact-finding probe.

“We are just inviting them to shed light and to help us determine which is which,” Ong said.

He said summons would be sent on Monday. He said they have 45 days, or until Dec. 17, to complete the reinvestigation and submit their report to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

“We also requested for documents from the previous panel of the DOJ who handled the investigation, including the post-blast investigation report, SOCO (scene of the crime operatives) report, chemistry report, death certificates, autopsy, post mortem report, all other photographs and those related to the Australian and federal police reports.

“We will collate them and we will weigh those documents and see which are believable and which are not,” he explained.

Prior to his promotion, David headed the Army Support Command and was the superior of Sollano.

Recently, David said Sollano’s field of expertise was bomb disposal and not bomb investigation. He also revealed that his then subordinate told him about his conclusion that the blast was caused by explosives. He said he told the latter to report his findings to the PNP and denied giving instructions to Sollano to keep his findings to himself.

The Justice secretary earlier expressed interest on the claim of Sollano that the previous administration covered up its earlier probe on the incident when it concluded that the blast was caused by methane gas leakage.

The retired officer alleged that an explosive device caused the blast.

He pointed to an alleged cover-up by the military and police leadership on orders of Malacañang allegedly to conceal a destabilization plot against former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

De Lima said that if this is true, she wants to know the reason or the “ultimate agenda” behind it – if it was “just part of the previous administration’s propensity to lie and conceal.”

“What could be the motive of the previous administration in covering it up? Was there a brewing scandal at that time that they wanted to divert the attention of the public?”

She said probers should first determine if Sollano is willing to cooperate and execute a sworn statement.

“If he feels that his security would be threatened, then he can always come to us and request for witness protection. But we first want to know particulars of his statement,” she explained. “If he is serious about his claim, then he must give us more information.”

But De Lima stressed that they would also look into the reason behind Sollano’s claims – why he is making such allegation against the previous administration and why he only surfaced now.