APO tagged in 2 more Metro grenade attacks

MANILA, Philippines - After at least three of its members were tagged in the grenade explosion that marred the conclusion of this year’s Bar exams in Manila last month, the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity is now being implicated in two similar incidents in the past.

Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima said probe being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) points to APO as alleged perpetrators of the grenade attacks at the La Consolacion College in Manila in 2008, in which 22 persons were hurt; and at the University of Perpetual Help in Las Piñas City last March, where 14 persons were injured, respectively.

No suspects have been named or arrested in earlier investigations conducted by police on these two grenade-throwing incidents.

“Authors of these grenade-throwing incidents are connected. That is what the ongoing investigation of NBI shows – it’s all APO,” she said during a press conference.

De Lima said the NBI has already pinpointed and is now hunting down one of suspects in the two previous incidents, who is supposedly “connected” to the two other suspects in the explosion in De La Salle University last Sept. 26.

“The NBI already knows where these people are working – the two suspects in the Bar blast and the other one in the two previous incidents. These authors are connected,” De Lima stressed.

Asked again to confirm if NBI’s information specifically points to APO as possible perpetrator of the two previous incidents, she replied with a “yes.”

De Lima refused to discuss further details of the NBI probe – especially as to what investigators see as possible motives behind the attacks. But she admitted that the motives could be “similar.”

She only issued an ultimatum to the two other suspects in the Bar grenade attack, who allegedly helped primary suspect Anthony Nepomuceno escape from a group of men who blocked him as he ran from the blast site, to cooperate with the NBI probe.

“We know who they are. We are challenging them to surface for questioning. Otherwise, the NBI would not be constrained to file charges,” she said.

De Lima said voluntarily submitting themselves to authorities would benefit the two suspects since it would give them a chance to clear their name.

De Lima also lamented the decision of APO leadership and elders not to cooperate with the NBI probe anymore.

“Too bad they have changed their stance. I don’t know why the change in stance when it was very clear to me that they have committed to cooperate in the ongoing investigation,” she said.

The DOJ chief said she also has no plans yet to again talk to Vice President Jejomar Binay, an APO elder who earlier helped in convincing Nepomuceno to face the NBI probe.

“I’ll probably do that later, but right now I’m appealing to the leadership of APO to again turn them (two new suspects) in just like what they did to Anthony Nepomuceno,” she added.

De Lima has also insisted that she is not implicating APO allegedly to protect the counterpart fraternity of her sorority in the San Beda College of Law, Lambda Rho Beta (LRB), which was earlier blamed for the attack.

She explained that she only intervened in the investigation when the NBI already identified Nepomuceno as the culprit last Oct. 26. She then personally talked to APO elders and convinced them to surrender the suspect.

An initial probe by the Manila Police District earlier showed that the one who threw the explosive device was wearing a shirt that bore the Greek letter emblem of Alpha Kappa Rho (Akrho), which was allegedly at odds with members of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity.

This angle, however, was no longer pursued as MPD took backseat in the investigation that was eventually led by NBI.

A fact-finding probe of the Supreme Court also pointed to the LRB as alleged culprits since most of the victims were members of the counterpart sorority of their rival fraternity, the San Beda College – based Alpha Phi Beta. LRB has already denied the allegation.