Ayala execs insist: Glorietta 2 was bombed

Reacting to an announcement by the Philippine National Police (PNP) that it will finally release its findings on the Glorietta 2 blast tomorrow, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) yesterday maintained its position that the mall was bombed.

“We have already shared the findings from our own internal assessment with the PNP last month,” corporate spokesman Alfonso Reyes told The STAR, adding that they “are hopeful that the new evidence we have shared would have been considered in their final report.”

Reyes opted not to comment on the PNP’s challenge for ALI to present evidence, such as a crater or bomb fragments, to support its claim that Glorietta 2 was bombed.

Officials of ALI, which owns the mall, have repeatedly stated that they will wait for the results of the PNP’s final investigation.

Eleven persons were killed and more than a hundred others were hurt in the blast, which the PNP believes to have been caused by a methane gas leak.

In contrast, ALI maintains that the explosion could not have been caused by a leak, as evidenced by results of an independent investigation by foreign experts the firm hired.

Meanwhile, members of the Multi-Agency Investigation Task Force (MAITF) are set to meet today to consolidate all the reports of different bureaus that investigated the Oct. 19 Glorietta 2 mall blast.

The STAR gathered that the meeting, to be attended by Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno and PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr., will be held at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City.

“All the reports from different bureaus will be consolidated after which the MAITF will come up with its final report, including the filing of charges against people responsible in the accident,” a source told The STAR on condition of anonymity.

The source, however, noted that journalists will not be allowed to attend the meeting. “It will be a closed-door meeting and the final report will not be ready to be announced to the public.”

Another source confirmed the holding of the meeting but refused to elaborate.

Puno said the results of the three-month investigation will be released within this week.

“I think that it has been a very exhaustive investigation and I think the corresponding charges for the people that will be responsible for these things will probably be in order so, there will be responsibility pinpointed when the report comes out,” he said, but refused to name names.