C-4 bombs mark Makati mall blast

I think it will take a while before the dust clears and what exactly happened is known. I find it extraordinary that a bomb of such magnitude could have been smuggled into the Mall. The situation in the Philippines is unlike North American Malls. In the Philippines there are security guards all over who man entrances and search bags. The article is typical of wild speculation after such an advent but it gives a good idea of the range of suppositions that go far beyond what would be listed in a mainstream western source. Right away the west would expect Islamic extremists. They are of course one possibility but as this article shows there are a wide range of possible culprits. At least the NPA is not even mentioned!
At this stage I just wonder if it was really a bomb at all.


This is from the Manila Tribune.

C-4 bombs mark Makati mall blast



10/20/2007

Even as the police were still sifting through the rubble created by one of the biggest bomb blasts in the country ever for clues and “signature” in the bombing of Glorietta 2 Mall in Makati City, Malacañang yesterday quickly disclosed that the blast which, at press time, killed eight persons and injured over 86 was the work of the terrorists.

No group was, however, identified even as traces of C-4 explosives of which only the military can have possession were reportedly found, police sources told media.

A Tribune source from the military whom the paper contacted yesterday said the C-4 must have consisted of at least 80 bars or 100 pounds of explosives, minimum, to bring about such an explosion. One bar, it was explained, weighs 1.25 pounds.

The source also said that from the look of things, it could not have been the handiwork of the Jemaah Islamiyah since the JI uses TNT and mortar for its bombing operations.

“That was C-4, and this is being used by the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ SWAG

teams and the Philippine National Police SAF,” he said, adding: “As yourself this: ‘where else can you get 100 pounds of C4 to blow up a mall?’ Also, the source added, “the Intel claim is that (it) has been monitoring the JI, then if it was the JI behind this blast, how come they (Intel) didn’t know about this?”

Another military source, however, said the C4 was the “mining” type, not the military type,” but couldn’t be sure, as the evidence was not yet in.

There was strong talk and suspicion yesterday from various sectors that the bombing of the Ayala Glorietta 2, was the handiwork of the Palace, as a move to divert attention from the bribery scandal involving the President which has been hogging the headlines for days.

Others pointed to National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales as being involved in the bombing.

Speaking on television, Gonzales was clearly irked, but appealed to all not to inject politics into the bomb blast incident, and also said this is not the time to accuse Malacañang.

There was also speculation that this blast was the handiwork of the Palace and its military group, to justify the imposition of emergency rule, and this was again rejected outright by the Palace that the explosion was a handiwork of the government itself.

“I am involved where? You know this (incident) is an opportunity to make a campaign against the government, for our enemies to take advantage of and blame the incident on the government, but this is a tragic case, it would be better if our society would help each others instead. Let’s put aside speculations. We are looking into a possible terrorist attack, we don’t have conclusions yet,” he said.

In 2000, during on Rizal Day, and while the impeachment trial of then sitting President Joseph Estrada was on recess, bombs went off in five different places, which blasts were dubbed FIDEL, so called because the bombs went off at Ferguson Plaza, international airport, Dusit Hotel, Edsa Transit and the LRT.

The opposition then, composed of then Vice President Gloria Arroyo, former President Fidel Ramos, along with the left and Gonzales’ PDSP, quickly placed the blame on the Estrada government, minutes after the blasts. But the NBI then, months after Estrada was ousted, came up with a report that the bombings were a political move against Estrada to destabilize his government. Involved were the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which had a tactical alliance with the Arroyo forces, along with the Left and political opposition. The report was quickly lost.

Earlier, a huge bomb ripped through a shopping mall in the capital’s financial district Friday.

Panicked shoppers ran out of the Glorietta mall in Makati as smoke billowed out of the building shortly after noon.

Police chief Geary Barias said the blast killed eight people and wounded dozens more. “There may be more people inside,” he told reporters.

Bomb debris carpeted a 200 square meter (2,100 square foot) area, he said, adding that “the ceilings are damaged and may collapse.”

National police chief Avelino Razon said: “This was a bomb. But beyond that we can’t say anything else yet because we are still investigating.”

Makati City councilor JunJun Binay said the explosion left a 26-foot wide crater on the ground floor and blew a hole through the roof on the second floor.

“From what I have seen it was a significant explosion and that most of the dead and injured were all employees,” he said.

Witnesses said part of a ceiling collapsed while a concrete wall was blown out.

Two cars and two delivery vans were buried under wooden planks and concrete debris outside the mall.

“It was so powerful,” clothing store clerk Jeric Balendes told AFP on the scene, as rescuers treated his cuts and bruises.

“The roof just collapsed on us. I could hear my three co-workers screaming. I got out through a small hole. I don’t know if they got out.”

Police stepped up security across the Manila area, a sprawling city of 12 million people.

President Arroyo “is deeply saddened by this incident and extends her sympathies to the families of the casualties,” her spokesman Ignacio Bunye told reporters.

Mrs. Arroyo had ordered the police “to get to the bottom of things and to leave no stone unturned,” Bunye added.

The United States and Australia both offered technical help in investigating the blast, and Australian experts were understood to be helping Philippine police on the scene.

Bomb squad teams sifted through the debris looking for clues, while extra police were drafted in to divert traffic and seal off the surrounding area — one of the busiest shopping districts of Manila.

The bodies of three of the victims lay covered in blankets on the floor of the adjacent car park, being used as an emergency medical assessment area.

“There was a sudden explosion,” said Christine Calope, one of the injured. “I don’t know if it was inside or outside the mall.”

Witnesses said the blast occurred in a section of the mall with clusters of shops selling baby clothes and toys.

Barias said police had not received any threats about an attack.

Police did not immediately name likely suspects for the attack, but Islamic militants were blamed for a bomb on a bus near the Glorietta mall that killed four people in February 2005.

Militants also firebombed a ferry on Manila Bay the previous year, killing more than 100 people in the country’s worst terrorist attack.

Members of the PNP Scene of the Crime operation identified three of the four fatalities as Lester Peregrina, Jose Allen de Jesus, Lisa Enriquez.

Barias, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), immediately declared a red alert in Metro Manila.

“We cannot say if it is a bomb or what type of a bomb used. That will be determined as soon as we finish this investigation,” Barias said.

“We are not discounting the possibility of a terror attack,” Barias said, adding that no group has owned responsibility to the explosion as of press time.

As of 3:30 p.m. Dr. Ernesto Santos of the MMC confirmed that four persons were declared dead on arrival at the MMC. There were also 51 patients treated for various types of injuries.

Santos said they are in the process of informing the families before they release the identities of the victims, sustained blast injuries to the body and head.

Two of the victims were in critical condition and remained at the intensive care unit. One pregnant lady also admitted for injury.

Barias said the PNP would also send more policemen in other malls around Metro Manila and set up checkpoints to avert more untoward incidents.

The Makati Medical Center (MMC) has admitted as many as 42 people to the emergency room from the Glorietta 2 shopping mall explosion. There were also patients brought to the Ospital ng Makati.

MMC nurses could not say what the extent of their injuries were except to say that four people of the fatalities were declared dead upon arrival at the MMC.

Alfie Reyes, corporate spokesman of mall owner Ayala Land, said they would extend assistance to all of the victims if any of their families wish to reach out to them.

“We will do so and help them,” Reyes said.

He added the mall area has been “evacuated” and that all of the victims have been taken out of the area.

Razon also yesterday appealed to the residents of Metro Manila not to panic and just continue living normal lives after the bomb explosion. “There’s no cause for alarm. They should continue on with their normal lives since the PNP is working to ensure that there is no repeat of this incident”, Razon said.

Razon said police experts are doing all they can “to get to the bottom” of the blast that ripped through the Glorietta 2 ground level around 1:30 p.m.

Barias said: “We will send policemen to other malls to restore order especially here in Makati and to prevent any untoward incident,” Barias told reporters. With Ben Gines Jr., Gina Peralta-Elorde, Sherwin C. Olaes and AFP



Back to top

For comments about this website:Webmaster@tribune.net.ph
The Daily Tribune © 2006