Death toll rises to two from bombing in Guiwan The death toll from a bombing Friday afternoon at the vicinity of a pub house near a bus terminal along MCLL Highway in Barangay Guiwan has risen to two, officials said. According to police report, the death toll rose after a tricycle driver identified as Dennis Valiente, 33, married, of Triplet, Barangay Sto. Niño, this city, died Friday night. Initial reports gathered by Zamboanga Today Friday showed a certain Reynando Tan, a welder of Barangay Tetuan, was pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital and more than 31 people were wounded in the blast. Police said the tricycle driver Valiente, who was rushed to Western Mindanao Medical Center (WMMC), expired while undergoing medical treatment at past 9 p.m. Friday night. The City Health Office (CHO), in its latest figure, showed there were 54 people were injured in the suspected car bomb explosion. Of the 54 injured victims, 10 are still confined at the hospital . Mayor Maria Isabel Climaco-Salazar said a certain Mark Cabayacruz is in serious condition due to eye injury and continuous bleeding. Climaco-Salazar said the attack was perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf as the group’s rescue attempt for its detained comrades at the Zamboanga City Jail was foiled by security forces last Monday. She revealed that the car bomb was intended at the Rural Transit Bus Terminal in Barangy Guiwan but the local police personnel manning the security disallowed motorist from parking their vehicle at the façade along the MCLL highway. The mayor also revealed that the local police force has already established leads on the recent bombing incident however, she appealed to the populace to provide video footages to the authority to reckon the incident. “The target was really to destabilize the government by creating a diversionary tactic, to scare us, to show that they have the capability [using the car as component of the bomb] because they have carried their bad intention,” Climaco-Salazar added. Climaco-Salazar had earlier said the blast could be part of a plot by the terrorist group to break 57 of their “high-value” comrades out of the city jail. She also said they received notices (from the intelligence community) that they (Abu Sayyaf) are going to be rescued by their comrades, who are ready to die. The mayor is seeking the help of the national government to transfer the 57 Abu Sayyaf members from ?Zamboanga City jail to Taguig City jail, south of Manila. “One of the most urgent concerns that the city of Zamboanga is facing right now is the immediate transfer of these 57 high-value Abu Sayyaf members in our city jail that are posing a threat because of the rescue and have responded through diversionary tactics. Let us take note that this Abu Sayyaf group members that are here awaiting trial did not commit their atrocities in the city of Zamboanga and the trials are not held in the city she said. She reiterated her call for the government to remove the 57 Abu Sayyaf from Zamboanga. “They are not our problem and yet they are our burden,” she added. “We do not want a repeat of the siege of the city.” In September 2013, nearly 200 people died and over 120,000 were left homeless in Zamboanga when a rebel group laid siege to the city. The group — the Moro National Liberation Front — were opposed to a peace deal between breakaway group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government. “We want them to be removed out of the city immediately because we don’t want to be a magnet and a target of future or present problems that we’re having,” Climaco-Salazar said. She also said that proper coordination on the transfer of Abu Sayyaf detainees has already been established with Justice Sec. Liela De Lima and Interior and Local Government Sec. Mar Roxas and Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin. The mayor also revealed that the foil rescue attempt of their detained comrades at the city jail led them to conduct bombing activities in the city following the availability of the improvised explosive devices (IED). “If you noticed, it [the bomb attack] was not fully planned because the target was the bus terminal but because they were refrained from parking their vehicle they opted to position the car in a vacant area between the Fantacy Bar and a store which shielded greater damage on people however, more casualties and damage to people if the suspects were successful,” she said. In a press statement Friday night, Lieutenant General Rustico Guerrero, Commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said: “We are currently exhausting all efforts to assist the local police in the conduct of investigations.” Guerrero alerted all troops under the Joint Task Force based in the province Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi to secure all vital installations including the airport, bus terminal and the local port in the areas. Meanwhile, Police Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, Zamboanga City Public Safety Company, said they’re investigating if the bomb explosion that ripped through a pension house sometime in October 2011 in Barangay Guiwan that left eight people wounded is connected to last Friday afternoon’s blast. The Red Palm pension house beside a bus terminal along the National Highway is just in front of the Fantacy Bar, where Friday afternoon’s powerful explosion occurred at 3:30 p.m. Authorities said Zamboanga City has been receiving threats from lawless elements following the intensified operations of the military against the Abu Sayyaf Group. The city was recently placed under red alert after a foiled jailbreak at the city jail involving the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Furuji Indama. The Abu Sayyaf, a loose band of a few hundred militants founded with seed money from Al Qaeda, has been blamed for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history. Hader Glang with a report of Eugene Lasprilla zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/19812-death-toll-rises-to-two-from-bombing-in-guiwan.html
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 05:49:04 +0000
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