Sanchez seeks help of NBI in blast probe

Nearly two months after surviving the bomb explosion that ripped through his Hummer H2 sport utility vehicle that killed his driver and bodyguard, Batangas Gov. Armand Sanchez sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday to conduct a separate investigation into the attempt on his life.

Regional director Reynaldo Esmeralda, chief of the NBI-Special Task Force, said he received a one-page letter from Sanchez requesting for the parallel probe.

With a solution "yet forthcoming," Sanchez said he believes that the NBI "could help in solving this dastardly crime."

Esmeralda said Sanchez sought their help after Senior Superintendent Ricardo Padilla, who once headed the special task force probing the explosion, has been transferred as director of the Southern Police District in Metro Manila.

"Up to now, there has been no resolution to the case," he said.

The June 1 blast killed Sanchez’s driver, Luisito Icaro, and police bodyguard, PO2 Eric Landicho. The governor sustained second-degree burns.

Police said they found pieces of a deformed plastic bottle cap, a copper coil and wire, which tested positive for TNT.