NORTH COTABATO ON HEIGHTENED ALERT AMID RECENT BOMBINGS Police and military authorities in North Cotabato have stepped up security measures amid the series of bombings and attempts in the province the past days, officials said. Since January 9 until January 20, eight bomb attacks and foiled bombings have transpired in North Cotabato and Cotabato City. In Kabacan, North Cotabato, Mayor Herlo Guzman Jr said stricter policies have been in place in the town’s public market after Monday evening’s foiled bombing attempt. In Pigcawayan, more police checkpoints in the town’s entry and exit points have been established to prevent the transport of improvised bombs. On Tuesday, an alert village leader foiled an attempt by two mento transport an improvised bomb. Elsewhere in the province, police and Army authorities have beefed up security measures amid the rash of bombings. North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza also urged Cotabatenios to help prevent the series of violence by cooperating with the police and local authorities and to remain vigilant. In Midsayap, police deployed more volunteers to secure villages, especially those in the borders with Maguindanao where authorities believe improvised bombs emanate. In Mlang, North Cotabato, text messages supposedly coming from police and Army intelligence agents have been circulating about bombing plots, sending residents to be ever vigilant. The town was bombed twice, in November 23 and Dec. 31 last year, killing three teenagers and two vendors, respectively. In Kabacan, more Army and police checkpoints were set up in and around the town center to thwart more attempts to disrupt the town’s peace and order situation. Additional police force multipliers like the Barangay Police Action Team (BPAT) were deployed in the villages of Osias, Katidtuan, and Kayaga, known entry points of lawless elements to the town poblacion. Increased intelligence activities were also implemented with the help of residents and everyone in the most populated area in town, the Kabacan public market. Senior Inspector Ernor Melgarejo, Kabacan police chief, said the bomb components used in Kabacan public market Monday were similar to those set off in M’lang public market on December 31. Guzman lauded the alert cashier of a restaurant inside the public market who became suspicious of a man who left a huge cellophane in one of the stalls. The cellophane contained rice, bread, and vegetables to conceal the IED composed of TNT, cellphone, and concrete nails. The IED went off even before the bomb experts could check on it. Nobody was hurt since the area had been evacuated after police secured the place. North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza also appealed to the public to help the police prevent bombings. In media interviews, Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, 6th Infantry Division chief, said all the bombings in North Cotabato had the ‘signatures’ of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). In the M’lang bombing on December 31, police blamed the BIFF but its spokesperson publicly declared they had nothing to do with the bombing of civilians. “We only attack the military, not the civilians,” Abu Misri Mama, speaking for the BIFF, said in a phone interview. “Wala kaming kinalaman diyan sa mga bombing sa sibilyan (We have nothing to do with the bombing of civilians).” Since January 9, eight bombing incidents was reported, four of which were foiled with bomb experts having detonated the improvised bombs. An IED was set off by still unidentified men in a residential area in Pikit on January 9, according to Task Force Pikit chief Supt. Jordaine Maribojo. He said nobody was hurt and police believed the IED was intended for the town market but due to heavy presence of police and soldiers, the bombers decided to abandon it somewhere. On January 11, a rifle grenade exploded in a residential area in Barangay Poblacion 7, Cotabato City after two men riding on a motorbike passed by. Nobody was hurt. On the same night, police in Midsayap, North Cotabato recovered a mortar in a vacant lot in Barrio 7 after alert civilians tipped off police about three men suspiciously roaming the area. As the police arrived, the suspects fled, leaving behind a live 81 mm mortar yet to be converted into an IED. On January 13, an IED blast toppled NGCP Tower 26 in Barangay Gilakit, Pikit, North Cotbato, causing power outage in North Cotabato’s PALMA-P area, the whole of Maguindanao, and Cotabato City. On January 14, a rifle grenade fired from nowhere exploded in another residential area in Pikit at past 8 p.m. Nobody was hurt. Supt. Maribojo believed it was a retaliatory attack on the death of wanted man in a shootout with lawmen. On January 18, another IED blast toppled NGCP Tower 42 in Barangay Batulawan, Pikit, North Cotabato, causing blackout in parts of North Cotabato, whole Maguindanaoand Cotabato City without electricity for more than three hours. On January 19, an IED exploded inside the Kabacan public market even before it could be defused by Army and police bomb experts. And on January 20, an alert purok leader foiled another bombing attempt in Pigcawayan after he reported to the police his discovery of an IED fashioned from 105 Howitzer with a mobile phone as triggering mechanism. Two men who the purok leader described as an elderly man, about 63 years old, and a teenager, left a sack near the quarry site in Barangay South Manuangan. Senior Insp. Donald Cabigas, town police chief, said the bomb couriers obviously hesitated after sensing police at the Manuangan detachment were inspecting all passing vehicles. (EDWIN O. FERNANDEZ)
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 05:54:43 +0000
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