Philippines Bomb Kills Eight

by Ma Nguyen Tong

20-10-2002

A powerful bomb on October 10, 2002 exploded in a crowded bus station in the southern Philippines, killing at least eight people and wounding 26 others. Three died of multiple shrapnel wounds. The others died in the hospital. The explosion happened in Kidapawan city, in North Cotabato province at about 1500 local time. The bomb was placed by unidentified men under a concrete bench in the terminal, said local police chief Superintendent Casimiro Medez. One woman and a child were killed at the scene, and the others died in hospital, police said. However, both communist guerrillas and a Muslim separatist group denied planting the bomb. The military named both the New People's Army (NPA) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as key suspects in the blast.

The powerful bomb - which police initially said was a grenade - also destroyed two buses. However, it later was determined the bomb had been fashioned from incendiary chemicals mixed with nails and shredded cast iron, aqnd rigged with a battery-operated, time-delayed blasting device.

Several theories

No group immediately admitted carrying out the attack, which came a week after a US Green Beret was killed in a bomb in the southern city of Zamboanga. However, Superintendent Medez said Communist insurgents were key suspects. The New People's Army (NPA), which is fighting for a Marxist state, had been linked to a previous attack at the same bus terminal.

"We are looking into the possibility of the involvement of the NPA, who in the past were extorting money from the bus firm," the police chief said. But police did not rule out the involvement of Muslim rebel groups. The main group fighting for a Muslim homeland in the mainly Catholic Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), also was active in the area.

The authorities blamed the previous week's Zamboanga bomb on another Muslim group, the Abu Sayyaf. The Abu Sayyaf had warned a week earlier it would mount attacks on civilian, military and US targets to retaliate for the two armies' offensive against Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines.

Another bomb found in jeepney

Meanwhile, another homemade bomb (are not all such bombs homemade???) was recovered from a commuter vehicle in Zamboanga, a week after a dealy blast killed the member of the US Green Berets. The bomb had been stashed on a jeepney by an unidentified passenger late October 9, and was later discovered by the driver. The device was also packed with nails, but it was missing a trigger device. It might have been intended to scare people or accidentally left behind whilst being transported to its target location.

Separatist groups deny Philippines bomb

Both Communist guerrillas and the Muslim group denied planting the bomb. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu condemned the attack, saying it was "un-Islamic and those responsible should be punished." He also said the MILF would have nothing to gain from such an attack as the group had a ceasefire agreement with the government.

NPA spokesman Gregorio Rosal, speaking on radio, said his group had nothing to do with the bombing and that the military was trying to falsely label the group as terrorists. Police were working on the theory that the bombers were trying to extort "protection" money from the Weena bus company. The management of the company said it had received several letters demanding money, including one signed by a "Suicide Bomber Team". Such extortion rackets leading to this level of violence are typical in the increasingly lawless Philippines.