Ex-lawmaker vows to help unmask bombing brains

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A former Sulu congressman, earlier tagged by police as one of the alleged masterminds in the airport bombing here last Aug. 5, vowed to help authorities unmask the real culprit in the attack that targeted Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan.

Munir Arbison, former Sulu second district congressman, said he is ready to cooperate with the authorities and clear his name, too, from the charges filed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) against him last week.

The explosion killed the two bomb carriers and wounded 24 others, including Tan, outside the arrival area of the Zamboanga International Airport.

A CIDG-led task force earlier had charged three of the alleged “executioners” of the bombing attack, based on the accounts of witnesses and closed-circuit television footages.

Last week, the CIDG filed supplemental charges against Arbison, former Sulu mayors Ahmad Nanoh and Najib Maldisa of Pangutaran and Maimbung towns, respectively; Jojo Adam, Musimar Alih, Munir Hadjirul, and Hadji Maulana Omar.

Arbison said he was surprised why he, sons-in-law Adam and Alih, and former district engineer Hadjirul were implicated in the bombing.

“To clear all this, I’m willing to help the authorities find the real mastermind of that senseless attack. We have to help one another here to find the real culprit because my reputation is at stake here. Otherwise, (the real mastermind is laughing at us),” Arbison said.