Philippines: Owners of Mall Claim blast caused by bomb

Many distrust the PNP (Philippine National Police) but in this case the owners of the Mall may be facing charges since the explosion is in effect the owner's fault. It certainly is in the owners' interest for the explosion to be terrorist related.
Maybe the owners should have given a hefty donation to the PNP benevolent fund or whatever they have! In this case there were also international investigators helping the PNP. There really doesn't seem to be any reason for the PNP to want to make the blast not terror related if it were. If it were terror related this would be reason for the PNP to ask for a bigger budget since it would show just how bad the terrorist menace is! It seems to me that the PNP request for counter-evidence is eminently sensible.


PNP to ALI: Disprove gas findings



01/09/2008

With Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) insisting that the explosion that ripped through the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City which killed 11 persons and injured over a hundred last year was caused by a powerful bomb, the Philippine National Police (PNP) countered this claim by saying Ayala should disprove the police team’s findings.

Earlier yesterday, ANC cable TV reported that an independent probe conducted by foreign experts hired by ALI found that the Glorietta 2 mall explosion was definitely caused by a powerful bomb, as RDX, a component of C4, over which only the military has control, was found by the international experts at the site of the blast.

As reported by ANC, a source told ABS-CBN that ALI hired foreign experts to make sure that the PNP’s probe and findings into the mall explosion would be accurate.

ANC reported that its source who it said is privy to the result of the ALI independent probe informed the TV station that foreign experts found that the explosion was caused by a bomb with RDX components.

The source was quoted as saying the foreign experts who examined the blast site at the Glorietta 2 mall recovered enough RDX traces to conclude that the explosion was caused by a bomb.

A team of police bomb experts who examined the mall’s blast site initially reported the recovery of RDX residue. This was later changed by the PNP, saying the recovery of traces of RDX cannot be used to conclude that a bomb caused the explosion at the mall.

Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno, ANC reported, upon being informed of the ALI probe results, said ALI does not have the authority to





investigate the blast.

“They can provide expert testimony, but the use of the word investigate is pretentious. They are not investigators,” Puno said, adding that only the police have the official authority to conduct post-blast investigations.

The PNP yesterday stood pat on its findings that the Oct. 19 explosion at the Glorieta mall was an industrial accident and not from a bomb.

PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said investigators have established that the blast was triggered by a methane gas and diesel fuel.

He said the outcome of their investigation would not be changed or reversed unless the mall owners offer evidence to controvert the findings of the Multi-Agency Investigating Task Force.

“I will repeat, we will not let or we will believe (the mall owners findings) only if it is based on evidence. If they can offer evidence, then we will look into it,” Razon told the weekly “Talakayan sa Isyung Pampulis in Camp Crame.”

“But they have no evidence. So our findings stay, unless it is controverted by other evidence... As we have said, we will base our investigation based on evidence,” Razon said.

“(We need) evidence that will controvert (our) evidence that we established, the diesel tank, electrical switches, leakage on the septic vault, the degradation of the ventilation by closing area in the atrium. We need to see the crater, components of the bomb,” the PNP chief said.

The PNP was still determining if the ALI can be held criminally liable for the explosion.

As of today, Razon said the police task force headed by Southern Police District director Chief Supt. Luizo Ticman was still studying who would be included in the charges. With Gina Peralta-Elorde, PNA and ABS-CBN website

Cause of Glorietta Mall explosion still uncertain

This is from the Manila Times. It seems likely that the blast was accidental. It always did to me but it certainly is taking a long time to be certain. At least this article explains why the police found traces of a military type explosive. However, there is also a sceptical account of the accident explanation. One wonders about the skills of investigators.

Police: Glorietta 2 mall
explosion ‘likely accidental’


MALACAÑANG officials said there is a “high” probability that last Friday’s blast at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City was an accident.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday presented to the National Security Council the results of its investigations at a meeting convened by President Gloria Arroyo, four days after the explosion.

Despite the Glorietta incident, the country’s economic growth is expected to remain strong, driven mainly by consumption growth this year. The peso also strengthened further while the stock market index climbed, apparently shaking off the initial woes caused by the bombing.

Mrs. Arroyo also ordered the strengthening of antiterror and security measures to ensure the public’s safety.

The Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, concurrently presidential political adviser, said police report showed a “high certainty” that the blast was not planned. Investigators, however, have not dismissed the bombing angle, although their findings showed otherwise.

The investigators said they are waiting for the result of a separate probe by forensic experts before they can conclude that a bomb did not cause the explosion.

Police bomb experts over the weekend detected from the blast site the presence of RDX, a component used to produce C-4, or military plastic explosives.

Puno, however, said it is too early to conclude that the RDX came from a bomb, since that chemical is also an ingredient in items such as aerosol and cosmetics. Police are yet to recover other bomb components from the site.

Puno said a hole found in the mall’s diesel storage tank reinforces the theory that the explosion was not a deliberate act. Also, an explosion caused by a bomb should have left a large crater at the site.

Earlier, a police official said they had received information, which they are still verifying, that the air vent at the basement could have been accidentally closed, which caused the trapping of a volatile gas, such as methane, emanating from the septic tank or pipes.

Accident angle doubted

A chemical engineering professor from the University of the Philippines-Diliman said it is impossible that the explosion that rocked Glorietta 2 was caused by methane and diesel.

During an interview with the TV network ABS-CBN, Dr. Wilfredo Jose of the Chemical Engineering Department said diesel doesn’t explode easily, and will ignite only if it is subjected to heat measuring 200 degrees Celsius.

Jose also doubted that methane that leaked from the septic tank and pipes caused the “blast wave.”

Glorietta Mall blast: Philippines

Perhaps I was correct in my original guess that the blast could after all be purely an accident. It seems to take an inordinate length of time to determine the cause and the police have released so-called evidence that a military explosive was used. Interesting that the US FBI is involved. I suppose because of the terrorism angle. However, they have not found any evidence of explosives! Meanwhile speculation is still rife. The military suspecting terrorists, some politicians Arroyo, and a virtually unknown virtually dead terrorist organisation claiming responsibility!


No conclusive evidence on cause of blast – Razon



Roy C. Sinfuego, Leonard D. Postrado, and Rio Rose Ribaya

Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon said yesterday the multi-agency task force investigating last Friday’s explosion at the Glorietta mall in Makati City still have no conclusive evidence to show what caused the blast.




The explosion killed 11 persons, wounded more than 120 others, destroyed several vehicles and caused extensive damage to the mall’s buildings.

"We cannot conclude yet what happened in Glorietta 2. We are not yet at that stage in concluding what happened," Razon said.

Briefing media at Camp Crame, Razon said the task force composed of members from the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Fire Protection is getting technical support from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police and metallurgical and petrochemical experts from the private sector.

Razon compared the investigation to "looking for a needle in the haystack" as probers have to sift for evidence from the rubble left behind by the explosion.

Police are looking at several possible causes for the blast, including the accidental explosion of sewage gases leaking into basement of the mall and a bomb blast among others.

A source from the Philippine National Police said that the explosion might have emanated from oil leaking from 6,000-liter bunker oil tank near the basement.

Razon also criticized Sen. Antonio Trillanes for speculating that the administration of President Arroyo may have had something to do with the explosion.

"As a former military officer, he must act properly and substantiate his allegation because it is unfair to the millions of people who cast their votes for him and to the general public," Razon said.

At the same briefing, PNP National Capital Regional Office (NCRPO) Director Geary Barias said police probers have finally gained access to the lower basement of Glorietta 2 after it was drained of water, diesel, and other substances which have been siphoned off and stored in 19 tankers for analysis by petro-chemical experts.

"At this point, there is no basis to conclude that it was a terrorist attack or an industrial accident," Barias said.

He appealed to media and public to refrain from speculating on the cause of the explosion.

Barias said it will take a few days more for the police and other experts to arrive at conclusive findings.

"Up to this point, no bomb components -- including timing devices, power sources, initiators, switches, and containers -- have been recovered from the debris," Barias said.

Earlier, bomb experts said they have discovered traces of RDX, a component of a powerful chemical explosive such C-4 at the "seat" of the explosion.

However, FBI experts who conducted their own tests in the areas surrounding the explosion said they did not find traces of explosives.

Razon said local police are still not discounting the bombing angle because the variation in the findings could be explained by local police and FBI experts tested for traces of bombs in different areas.

"The [US] tests are negative because when the US experts arrived at the blast site, they swabbed the exterior portions or the portions that were not directly at the center, or at the seat, of the explosion. That’s why it tested negative," Razon said in Filipino.

Meanwhile, Makati City Police chief Supt. Gilbert Cruz denied police have been lax in securing the malls in the city.

He said Makati police maintain close coordination with private security agencies at shopping malls and other establishments in the country’s premier financial center.

In a related development, Makati’s financial district property developer Ayala Land Incorporated (ALI) yesterday denied it was guilty of a security breach.

ALI spokesman Alfonso Reyes said the basement at the Glorietta 2 is not secured by Ayala Land but is under the jurisdiction of Makati Supermarket, one of the tenants at the mall.

"The basement in question is not secured by Ayala Land. These are private premises of one of our tenants. We also have no knowledge of any construction because these are not our premises," Reyes said.

Reyes said it is too early to pin the blame on security breach but said they would conduct a probe on the matter.

"All of these issues including the alleged security breach will be under investigation so at present they are pure speculation," he said.

Reyes said security has been beefed up at the shopping malls.

"We will be complimenting our regular compliment of 120 security men by 20 percent to protect the public. We will have additional personnel and bomb sniffing dogs. This move is in addition to the metal detectors we installed last year," he said.

***


Police probers looking into angle of accidental explosion at Glorietta


Rose Rio Ribaya

A member of the task force investigating the Glorietta 2 blast said yesterday that the explosion could have been caused by methane gas.

Senior Supt. Fennimore Jaudian said that debris from Glorietta explosion showed signs of a possible methane gas explosion.

"Based on the physical effects of explosion, it points to gas explosion. And the possibility (that we’re considering) is methane," Jaudian told reporters.

He said the gas could have come from the sewage system at the basement of Glorietta 2 where a diesel tank is also located.

An arson expert whose team was responsible for solving the Superferry 14 bombing in February 2004, Jaudian said the "methane gas explosion" angle has figured consistently in investigation conducted by his team composed of investigators from the Bureau of Fire Protection and the National Bureau of Investigation.

Jaudian also said that the partly-ruptured cover of the diesel tank in the Glorietta 2 basement clearly indicates that the blast came from inside.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon dismissed National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales’s claim that there was a failure of intelligence on the part of the authorities in anticipating an attack.

"This came out only in one newspaper report. I think there was no failure of intelligence because we’ve been reviewing our records and there was no specific intelligence report that pointed out there’ll be bombing in Glorietta, Makati," Razon told reporters.

The police chief said that while the PNP Intelligence Group had previously received reports that there were general threats of bombing in the metro, it was "very hard to pinpoint" where the terrorists would strike.

Razon noted that there were no reports that specifically identified Glorietta 2 as a bombing target.

***


PNP doubts RSM claim it caused Makati explosion


Rose Rio Ribaya

The Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday said it doubted the claim of the Islamic extremist group Rajah Sulaiman Movement that it was responsible for last Friday’s bombing at Glorietta 2 in Makati City because the group has been "inactive" since 2005.

"We have not monitored any significant activity of group since 2005. Most of members of group arrested or killed in encounter with government," National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Geary Barias said.

"With the respect to the RSM claim, the results of our investigation shows that RSM has been rendered inactive with the arrest of 12 core members including its leaders," Barias said.

Barias said only two RSM members, Khalil Pareja, and Sheik Omar Lavilla, are still at large.

Omar was reported to have called media companies, claiming responsibility for the explosion last Friday at the Glorietta 2, where at least 11 people were killed and 113 others injured.

Barias added that Pareja is reportedly hiding in Central Mindanao while Omar is allegedly somewhere in the Middle East.

Task Force Sanlahi head Senior Supt. Ager Ontog said that intelligence units of the government have cooperated to validate the report.

"We are confident at this point to state that members of RSM, which previously were involved in several bombings before 2007, were arrested and only two members remain unaccounted for by government," Ontog said.

However, Ontog stressed that the police is not discounting RSM’s involvement in the blast.

"We are not discounting that this group may be responsible for the incident. As we consider all the other possible suspects all the other possible groups a suspects in this investigation until after declared by district investigators that they are indeed not responsible," he said.

Ontog said Pareja and Lavila, who are believed to be leaders of RSM, are subject to warrants of arrest.

"We have warrants of arrest to backup police investigation," he said.

Traditionally known for car bombing activities, RSM is a group of Muslim converts responsible for the Valentine’s Day bombing in 2004, where a bus was blasted along the Ayala Avenue in Makati City.

Some elements of RSM were also involved Super Ferry bombing in 2004, where a lot of people died when a bomb went off the ship in Manila Bay.

***


Leaders urge Muslims to exercise caution in wake of explosion


The leaders of the Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA) and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao urged yesterday their fellow Muslims to exercise caution and sobriety and to refrain from speculating on what caused last Friday’s bombing at Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City.

OMA executive director Datu Ali b. Sangki and ARMM Gov. Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan made the call amid swirling speculations on what caused the bombing that killed 11 and injured more than 1119 persons.

"Whoever are behind the Glorieta bombing ... with their own personal sinister ulterior motives, the fact remains that the means used was terroristic and must be exposed, condemned and persecuted. Every nation can design or form its own system of government, but getting to form a government through terroristic means in the 21st millennium will always be unpopular that will only further promote retrogression, chaos, anarchy & destabilization," said Sangki.

Ampatuan, meantime, said: "Let us appeal to the Philippine National Police under Director General Avelino Razon Jr. to thoroughly investigate the incident and wait for the results. Speculations on what caused the blast and who did it will only add more anxiety and uncertainties."

***


Church leaders seek creation of indepent investigating body


Church leaders called for the creation of an independent body that would investigate the incident.

"The one who should investigate the Makati incident is an independent body, one that is really capable of investigating," according to Bishop Dan Balais, Philippines for Jesus Movement (PJM) National Director and General Secretary during yesterday’s gathering in Greenhills, San Juan City.

Balais said the creation of an independent body could prevent a possible cover-up on the Makati explosion.

‘It’s possible that there will be a cover-up. We hope and pray that it won’t be like that. So there has to be an impartial investigation done by experts," he said.

Caloocan Bishop Deogracais Iniguez and Public Affairs chief of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is also supportive of the idea of creating a separate investigating body.

"I’m in favor of putting up such an inquiry body. For as long as it’s credible and would be believable to all," Iniguez said.

At the Senate, Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) also called for an independent and timpartial investigation of the Glorietta mall bombing by enlisting the services of probers of proven track record from other countries.

"People are demanding a true, credible, and full public report after a transparent probe by independent, expert investigators of the Makati blast that took away 10 innocent lives and injured scores of other persons," he said.

***


Trillanes says he stands by alllegation on Makati explosion


Detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said he will stand by his allegations that government officials and ranking military officials orchestrated the Makati explosion.

Lawyer Reynaldo Robles, Trillanes’ private counsel, said his client is ready with all the information and details about the tragedy.

"He is standing by his reaction and his announcement based on the information that he has received. We all know that Senator Trillanes is a former soldier; he has a wide network in the Armed Forces and in the community. That is why he was able to verify the reports," Robles said.

"He is ready to reveal all the information provided that this will be done before an independent, credible and impartial facti-finding body because we all know that the administration has the reputation of withholding the truth," Robles said.

***


Reward offered for information on blast increases to P5 M


Edd K. Usman, Leslie Ann G. Aquino, Hannah L. Torregoza and Rio Rose Ribaya

The reward offered to anyone who could give information to identify the perpetrators behind the explosion has reached P5 million after Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio T. Arroyo offered another P1 million pesos from his own personal fund.

"I feel very bad in fact I have offered a reward from my own personal fund of P1 million to whoever could lead to the apprehension of the perpetrators of this crime," Arroyo said after attending the PNP flag ceremony at Camp Crame yesterday

Earlier, Malacañang offered P2 million for any information about the brains behind explosion.

This was on top of the P1million reward offered by Makati City and another P1 million from the Makati Business Club.

The Negros Occidental legislator also enjoined the general public to remain calm, united and steadfast.

"Let us remain calm and not use this occasion to incite fear among the people," he said.

Philippine mall bomb toll at 9

I am quite surprised: i) that somehow a bomb of such size got by security ii) that the explosives are military grade since that indicates a military or police source for the material. I guess that the Tribune article I posted the other day was accurate enough.
This could be Abu Sayyaf because their bombing is indiscriminate for the most part but I understand they do not use this type of explosives for the obvious reason that they would have a hard time getting them. The type of explosives will just generate all sorts of speculation about who was involved in the Philippines as evident in the Tribune article.

This is from Reuters.

Philippine mall bomb toll at 9, police review footage


By Manny Mogato

MANILA, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Philippine police confirmed on Saturday that military-grade explosives caused a powerful blast in an upscale Manila shopping mall and that they were reviewing security camera footage to look for suspects.

The Glorietta mall blast at lunchtime on Friday killed nine people and wounded 120, although many of those wounded have been discharged after treatment, police and hospital sources said.

Explosives experts said the bomb was apparently set off in the basement of Glorietta, a sprawling three-storey complex of department stores, high-end fashion boutiques, restaurants, other shops and cinemas in the heart of the Makati business district.

Several luxury hotels and serviced apartment blocks surround the complex.

"No fragments of the bomb were found on the ground or upper floors," said Major Reynold Rosero, a military bomb expert. "So it must have come from the basement."

The basement, a delivery area for goods, is now under knee-deep water because the explosion caused some water pipes to burst, he said. Investigations would therefore take some time.

The bomb ripped all the way through to the roof of the structure, devastating shops and restaurants. Police had earlier believed the bomb was near a cellphone repair shop directly above the delivery bay.

Eight people were confirmed dead on Friday and the body of a man was found early on Saturday in the debris, a police official said. Four people have been reported missing.

A police official told President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at a conference at national police headquarters that traces of RDX, a component of plastic explosives, were found at the bomb site.

"It was military-grade explosives," the expert said at the conference, which was open to the press.

Manila police chief Geary Barias said police have also started reviewing closed-circuit TV (CCTV) footage of the mall.

No one has claimed responsibility and no suspects have been named although some officials said Islamic Abu Sayyaf militants could be involved.

Norberto Gonzales, the president's security adviser, said they received an intelligence report the Abu Sayyaf was trying to raise funds abroad using the Internet site YouTube and the blast could be used as part of its fund-raising campaign.

Abu Sayyaf is said to be linked to the regional Jemaah Islamiah group, which has been blamed for similar explosions in the past, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people on the Indonesian resort isle.

A general alert has been issued for the rest of Manila and for the international airport.

Manila has largely been spared a spate of bomb attacks by Abu Sayyaf and other Muslim rebel groups that have plagued the southern Mindanao region. But it has been hit in the past.

A series of bomb blasts in 2000, blamed on a rogue faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, killed at least 22 people.

In February 2004, more than 100 people were killed when a bomb planted by Abu Sayyaf rebels sank a ferry near Manila Bay, the country's worst terror attack.