MANILA — The capture of a suspected Muslim militant in the Philippines may have averted attacks on mainly Roman Catholic cities on the southern island of Mindanao, police officials said yesterday.
Blah Platon, a Filipino also known as Datu Demaatol Guilal, was caught at dawn yesterday at a security checkpoint outside Tacurong, one of five southern cities hit last month by blasts that killed seven people and wounded more than 30.
“We believe we foiled another bomb attack,” said German Doria, police chief of the southern region of Mindanao, adding investigators were trying to determine the exact targets.
In nearby Cotabato City, one person was wounded when armed men fired mortar rounds at an area near a compound housing the offices of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, an army spokesman, said the ARMM governor, Zaldy Ampatuan, was delivering a speech at the opening of a regional legislative assembly when two 60mm mortar shells landed about 150 meters from the hall.
Soldiers and police officers rushed to the area from where the shelling had come but the attackers had fled.
Willie Dangane, a police intelligence officer on Mindanao, said Platon was carrying a bag with materials to make improvised bombs, including blasting caps, electrical cord and a 105mm howitzer projectile.
“We also have standing warrants of arrest against Platon for his involvement in several bomb attacks and kidnap-for-ransom incidents in Tacurong and nearby areas,” Dangane added.
On Oct. 10, a bomb made from 60mm mortar rounds ripped through a market in Tacurong, wounding four people.
About 12 hours later, a similar bomb went off during a religious festival in nearby Makilala town, killing at least seven people and wounding nearly 30.
Some police and army commanders have suggested the attacks could be in retaliation for offensives against Abu Sayyaf rebels and Indonesian militants on Jolo since August.
Abu Sayyaf, the smallest and most violent of four Muslim rebel groups in the Philippines, was blamed for the worst attack in the country, the 2004 bombing of a ferry near Manila that killed more than 100 people.
Six Countries Pledge to Support Mindanao Development
Six ambassadors have pledged support to the Philippine peace efforts in Mindanao and renewed commitments to help develop the troubled island, south of Manila.
The ambassadors — Ryuichiro Yamazaki, of Japan; Peter Sutherland, of Canada; Kristie Kenney, of the United States, Peter Beckingham, of the United Kingdom; Tony Hely, of Australia, and David Pine, of New Zealand arrived in Zamboanga City together and met with senior military commanders and government officials.
“These six countries all support myriad development projects in Mindanao, focusing on education and job skills training, small business development, local governance, improved healthcare, agricultural sustainability, poverty alleviation, peace building and counter-terrorism,” a statement released by the US Embassy said.
The ambassadors met with Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command and were briefed about the security situation in Mindanao. They later met with the local mayor, Celso Lobregat, who also briefed them about the city’s tourism and investment program, before proceeding to the Islamic Institute of the Philippines in the Muslim enclave of Rio Hondo where they mingled with students and teachers.
Kenney also led the turnover ceremony of computers and Internet connections to the school under the program called Computer Literacy and Internet Connection or CLIC.
Sutherland said Canada is supporting the peace process and development efforts in Mindanao. “Our objective in visiting Zamboanga and Basilan is to demonstrate our support to the peace process and development in Mindanao,” he said. “We have a collective interest in Mindanao to bring peace and development.”
And Japan has also committed to support the peace talks, saying, it already sent a representative to Mindanao to join an international group of cease-fire observers.
“We are also supporting the peace process. We hope to help in the development of Mindanao,” said Yamazaki in Zamboanga City.
The group also flew by helicopters to Lamitan town in Basilan island to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a community learning center donated by Australia under the so-called Basic Assistance for Mindanao program.
