Government official witness in Davao V-Day bombing?

DAVAO CITY — A government official was reportedly a key witness in the bombing that struck an eatery beside the entrance gate of the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal on Valentine’s Day, which left a 12-year-old boy dead and wounded seven others.

Three suspects were charged before the City Prosecutors’ Office here for the Feb.14 bombing — Abdul Basit Hapilon, Abdul Manap Mentang and Abdum Rahman Camili, whom authorities claimed to be active members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group.

Police intelligence sources said the government official (whose identity was withheld) was able to identify Hapilon, son of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, as the one who deposited the stack of egg trays that contained the bomb that exploded at the bus terminal.

Hapilon’s face surfaced in the cartographic sketch police released following the incident.

Meanwhile, the same witness also reportedly saw Mentang and Camili in the vicinity of the bus terminal during the bombing.

Mentang and Camili were arrested in separate raids by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) last year for alleged involvement in the twin bombings that hit Davao City in early 2003.

Mentang was nabbed in a raid in Metro Manila while Camili was caught in an anti-terror sweep in Davao del Norte last November.

However, both Mentang and Camili were subsequently released by a local court here early this year after ISAFP failed to substantiate the charges filed against them for their alleged involvement in the bombing that ripped through a waiting shed at the old Davao International Airport on March 4, 2003. The two were also allegedly involved in the bombing that rocked a row of stalls beside the passengers gate at the Sasa Wharf on April 2, 2003.

Mentang was said to have earlier confessed to authorities that he was trained in demolition and urban terrorism nine years ago by a JI Indonesian operative named ‘Zulkifli’.

Authorities also identified Camili as the one who allegedly carried a bag full of explosives and placed it under a monoblock chair in the passenger waiting area fronting the arrival section of the old airport terminal.

The cases against the three suspects were said to have been strengthened by testimonies of witnesses as gathered by the Southern Mindanao Joint Regional Intelligence and Investigation Task Force.

A military intelligence officer said investigations showed the three had a hand in the Feb. 14 bombing.

Mentang and Camili were reportedly under surveillance following their release from detention early this year.