Blasts rock Cotabato; Robredo, ARMM bets safe

MANILA, Philippines - Two roadside bombs exploded in Cotabato City while Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo was visiting the city yesterday morning.

The Philippine National Police reported that the explosions occurred at around noon along Sinsuat Avenue in Cotabato City, less than a kilometer away from the forum that Robredo and his companions attended at the city plaza.

“We were supposed to go on that route in the morning, but we changed routes. If we had gone on our original route, I don’t think we would have gotten hit anyway,” said Robredo.

Robredo said that his group was not really the target of the blast.

He said the police will still investigate the incident to determine the motive and identify the people behind the attack.

Despite the bombing, Robredo said he would continue with his itinerary in Cotabato City.

Robredo led a group of government representatives that held dialogues with local leaders in connection with the transition team for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) where President Aquino would appoint officers-in-charge to hold posts in the regional government.

“It’s part of the job. There’s no problem. These things shouldn’t stop us from performing our jobs,” Robredo said.

Director Felicismo Khu, head of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations for Western Mindanao, said prior to the explosions, at least 300 residents, mostly women, assembled along Sinsuat Avenue while another group of about 500, mostly youths, gathered at the plaza.

Khu also reported that there were 1,000 people converged at Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.

“We are closely monitoring the possible entry of IED (improvised explosive device) in the city,” Khu reported to Robredo.

Joint Task Force Kutawato, Army, and police probers are still trying to determine the motive behind the explosions.

Col. Manuel Luis Ochotorena, spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division and deputy commander of Task Force Kutawato, said the blasts were caused by two IEDs made from 81mm mortar shells.

A senior military official expressed doubt that Robredo was the target of the twin roadside bombings, saying that the explosions were apparently meant to get the attention of the visiting secretary.

He said that if Robredo was the target of the assassination plot, the suspects could have aborted the bombing when Robredo’s convoy changed their route.

“Usually roadside bombings are command-detonated and when the convoy of the secretary took another route, the bombers could have simply retrieved the IEDs they had planted along the highway and could have waited for an opportunity to hit their main target later,” the military official, who asked not to be named, said.– With Jaime Laude