Andang: MILF men behind Zambo blasts

ZAMBOANGA CITY — City Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat quoted captured Abu Sayyaf leader Galib Andang alias Commander Robot yesterday as saying that renegade members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), not his men, were responsible for the spate of bombings here last year.

Lobregat said she had a chance to talk to the wounded Andang at the emergency hospital in Edwin Andrews Air Base before he was flown to Manila last Monday.

"Mayor Lobregat, hindi kami ang nanggugulo dito. Mga renegade MILF ang nagbomba dito (Mayor Lobregat, we are not the ones who are sowing terror here. Renegade MILF members were the ones behind the bombings)," the mayor quoted Andang as saying.

Lobregat, however, said it is for the police and the military to assess Andang’s claims.

Chief Inspector Antonio Clarito, city police spokesman, said Andang’s statements could help authorities hunt down other suspects in the blasts.

"But this does not mean we are taking his confession hook, line and sinker. It has to be validated," he said.

Gen. Narciso Abaya, Armed Forces’ chief, just shrugged his shoulders, saying it was natural for a criminal like Andang to find ways to gain sympathy.

"It is definite that Robot would face the bar of justice," he said.