Suspected bomb-maker gunned down

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines – Authorities shot dead a suspected bomb-maker and arrested another in a police operation Friday in Datu Paglas town in this province.

Nadzir Pakasi Mongkas, and his cohort, Rahib Pelandoc Guialudin, reportedly resisted arrest triggering a shootout with members of the Maguindanao provincial police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Guialudin surrendered after Mongkas fell to the ground.

Mongkas and Guialudin were tagged, along with several Moro ordnance experts, as responsible for the spate of bombings of commercial establishments and buses in Central Mindanao.

Mongkas had reportedly undergone training in bomb-making using mortar shells, B-40 anti-tank rockets and ammonium nitrate in Pakistan and Afganistan.

Senior Superintendent Rudelio Jocson, Maguindanao police director, said Mongkas and Guialudin were allegedly about to transport explosives and materials in making bomb when they were intercepted along the Tacurong-North Cotabato Highway in Datu Paglas.

Policemen recovered inside the suspects’ vehicle materials for making improvised explosive device (IED), three Barrett sniper rifles, an M-16 rifle, an assault rifle, two caliber .45 pistols, and an IED equipped with a battery-operated blasting device.

Sources said Guialudin and Mongkas reportedly doubled as “guns-for-hire” and engaged in selling stolen firearms to warlords and Moro rebel groups.  

Jocson said Guialudin would be quizzed on his possible involvement in the car bombing incident in Cotabato City that killed eight people and injured more than 30 others.