Explosives recovered near Army headquarters

By Ronron
February 14, 2007

Bomb experts of the Philippine Army recovered on Wednesday morning some explosive materials near its headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City as the country marks the second anniversary of the Valentine’s Day bombings in the cities of Makati, Davao and General Santos.

Army spokesman Maj. Ernesto Torres, Jr. said a civilian passerby, identified as Joel Reyes, 21, of Barangay Palar, found the two high explosive hand fragmentation grenades, one hand offensive grenade, and a percussion cap along Bayani Road some 150 meters away from the Gate 1 of Libingan ng mga Bayani at around 11:05 am.

Torres said the explosive materials were placed inside a plastic bag and sealed with a masking tape. No one saw who left the items.

“We can’t say for now (the motive). We are still investigating who is behind this,” Torres told Camp Aguinaldo reporters in a phone interview.

He said a team of the Philippine Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion (EODBn), led by 1Lt. Francis Señoron, responded to the site after Reyes reported what he found.

The troops immediately brought the items to their headquarters for safekeeping after conducting an intensive search at the vicinity for other “sabotage materials,” said Torres.

On Tuesday morning, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) placed its forces on heightened alert in preparation for possible attacks similar to the 2005 Valentine’s Day bombings that claimed at least eight lives and injured scores others.

The deadly, almost-simultaneous blasts were attributed to the Abu Sayyaf Group, Rajah Solaiman Movement, and Jeemah Islamiyah, all believed to have links with Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network./DMS