Ombudsman unfazed by grenade threat

MANILA, Philippines - Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and her family are not cowed by the threat of a grenade found outside her house in Muntinlupa.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, the retired Supreme Court justice said her family is not worried about the incident.    

“It’s part of the risk,” she said. “If it’s your time, it’s your time. I am just doing a job.”

Officials and employees of the Office of the Ombudsman believe it would take much more to intimidate Morales.

Speaking to The STAR, Assistant Special Prosecutor III Faye Singson, Office of the Special Prosecutor spokesperson, said such threats will not easily scare Morales.

“Knowing that she possesses courage and bravery, all the more that she is emboldened to fulfill her mandate,” she said.

“If that act is an element of instilling fear in the Ombudsman, whether against her personal capacity or against the Office which she heads, then it is not successful.”

Police investigators are at a loss as to the meaning of the note found with the grenade Wednesday outside the house of Morales.

Director Alan Purisima, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, said crack investigators failed to decipher the meaning of the note as of 3 p.m. yesterday.

“We have not established as yet the meaning of the note. But it seems that it was placed there to throw off investigators,” he said.

The note reads: “Pang densa kay CCM-nagmalakit.”

Purisima refused to divulge the progress of their investigation so as not to jeopardize whatever leads they have.

“We could not connect it as yet with Ombudsman Morales or anybody else,” he said.

Police are determining whether the grenade was meant to harm Morales or to harass and scare her and her family, he added.

Hidden inside a plastic canister, the grenade was found at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Ricky Apostol, a security guard assigned at Morales’ house, discovered the suspicious looking plastic bag near the perimeter fence just a few meters away from the main gate of the compound.

He checked the contents of the bag and saw a green plastic canister inside with the note.

Apostol sought assistance from the Muntinlupa police, which sent an explosives and ordnance disposal team to the site.

When the police team opened the canister, they saw an M26 hand grenade with the pin still intact. – With Non Alquitran, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mike Frialde