MANILA, 16 February 2005 — Security forces hunted yesterday for the bombers behind blasts in Manila and two other cities that killed 11 people on Valentine’s Day, while investigating a rebel claim of responsibility.
Abu Sayyaf, a small militant group linked to Al-Qaeda, said it carried out the attacks in crowded public places on Monday to punish the government for a heavy military offensive on its strongholds on the southwestern island of Jolo.
“It’s too early to tell,” national security adviser Norberto Gonzales said of the claim of responsibility.
“We’re looking at several angles, including the networking of foreign militants and home-grown rebel groups,” he said.
The three blasts in the largely Roman Catholic country came closely together on Monday evening as people were traveling home, shopping and going out for dinner on Valentine’s Day.
Six people were killed in Manila and five in two southern cities — four in General Santos and one in Davao.
More than 150 people were wounded in the three attacks.
Security sources said the bombs could have been an attempt to distract the army as nearly 5,000 troops on Jolo battled about 800 loyalists of a jailed separatist leader.
Army and police intelligence officials said they were not ruling the involvement of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a shadowy regional network linked to Al-Qaeda and the suspected fund-raiser for previous attacks by Abu Sayyaf and other Philippine groups.
“We cannot accept the Abu Sayyaf’s claim hook, line and sinker,” a police counter-terrorism official said.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was determined to continue the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf rebels.
“We must not pull back but move forward to wipe out the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf,” she said, rejecting calls for a truce on Jolo. “This is not a fight against Islam.”
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) offered to help the government prevent future bomb attacks in Mindanao, while condemning the perpetrators of the Valentine’s Day explosions as “evil men.”
Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesman, said the MILF was offering its help as a manifestation of its sincerity in the peace process.
Meanwhile, renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) eluded military troops in barangay (village) Bitan-ag in Panamo town, Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Efren Abu said yesterday.
“At this moment, they are not there anymore. As what I’ve said we have done the mopping up operations and the scout rangers are pursuing the remnants,” Abu said.
When asked if the rebels escaped, Abu said: “Yes, but as what I’ve said we have inflicted maximum casualties and many of them are withdrawing and the rangers are pursuing them.”
Edgardo Aglipay, the national police chief, said his 115,000 officers were on full alert to help in the hunt for the bombers.
He released two sketches of suspects in the attacks in Manila’s business district and at a bus terminal in Davao but dismissed the Abu Sayyaf claim.
Freedom for Misuari
Community leaders on Jolo had called for a truce and lawmakers, most of them Arroyo’s allies, proposed allowing former separatist leader Nur Misuari to go into exile as a way of stopping the fighting.
The justice department opposed the proposal, but asked the Supreme Court to name a new judge to speed up his trial.
Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte also urged the president to release the jailed separatist leader.
Duterte, who heads the Presidential Anti-Terror Task Forcei, said keeping Misuari in jail would not solve the crisis in Jolo.
— With additional inputs from Al Jacinto & Mama Gubal
