Department of Justice extends probe on Glorietta blast

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) is extending up to next year its reinvestigation of the Oct. 19, 2007 explosion in Glorietta 2 Mall in Makati City following continued absence in earlier hearings of retired Army colonel Allan Sollano, who claimed the incident was caused by a bomb.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she is approving the request of the investigating fiscals led by Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong for 30 more days after they failed to meet her Dec. 17 deadline.

She said the grounds raised by Ong in seeking the extension were “reasonable enough.”

“I haven’t seen the (request) paper yet, but I will most likely approve that,” De Lima told reporters in an ambush interview last Thursday.

An official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said they would stick with their earlier findings that the incident was caused by accidental explosion of methane gas.

“It’s purely gas explosion. Try to see the CCTV monitor, there was no fire, there was no sign of any explosive device whatsoever,” the NBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The STAR in a text message.

“The submersible pump was clogged that’s why it produced gas,” he added.

Earlier this month, the investigating panel formally asked De Lima to extend their deadline for submission of report on the fact-finding probe to determine the real cause of the explosion.

Ong cited as reason the absence of Sollano in the hearings last Nov. 30 and Dec. 14 despite summons for his appearance.

Sollano only appeared during the first hearing on Nov. 18 but was a no-show in succeeding hearings. He later claimed through an affidavit that he has a five-inch wick purportedly from the explosive device that caused the explosion.

According to his lawyer, Egbert Buenviaje, his absence was due to supposed security threats.

Sollano had claimed that the Glorietta blast was caused by a bomb and not by methane gas as police and other independent probes had earlier concluded.

He alleged that the first investigation was whitewashed to cover up for the previous administration.

But his former superior, incumbent Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Ricardo David denied Sollano’s claim.

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