BIFF sets off bomb but failed to destroy Maguindanao bridge

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 9): BIFF sets off bomb but failed to destroy Maguindanao bridge

Members of a renegade Moro rebel group tried but failed to blow up a bridge in Maguindanao Tuesday dawn, the Army here said.

Colonel Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division, said suspected elements of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on Tuesday dawn set off an improvised bomb fashioned from two 81 mm mortar with mobile phone as trigger mechanism.

The bomb, trapped underneath a bridge in Barangay Magaslong, Datu Piang, Maguindanao, went off prematurely and did not destroy the bridge, according to Hermoso.

Mayor Genuine Kamaong of Datu Piang said the explosion that occurred about 5:30 a.m. had created thin cracks on one of the bridge's feet and its surface bed.

However, after thorough inspection by government engineers, the bridge was declared passable to four wheel vehicles with not more than three tonnage.

The bridge connects Datu Piang to other parts of Maguindanao and Cotabato City and would have affected movement of the military hardware and business activities in Datu Piang, a fourth class municipality with about 49,971 population as of 2010.

Hermoso said the bombing was clearly a retaliation by the BIFF for the losses it suffered during the series of skirmishes with government forces last Saturday and Sunday in Maguindanao and in Pikit, North Cotabato.

Six soldiers, including an Army first lieutenant and 25 guerrillas were killed during the fighting.

The fighting also displaced some 3,000 families who are about to start the fasting month of Ramadhan where they fast from sunrise to dusk without taking any food, water and even sex.

Hermoso said he was saddened by what the BIFF had done not to the military but their co-Muslims who were ejected out of their homes at the time of fasting month. The affected people are the same people the BIFF vowed to promote and protect, he said.

The Datu Piang Chamber of Commerce and Industry condemned the attempt to blow up the bridge because it could have tremendous effect on the economic activity of Datu Piang when Muslims are preparing to commence fasting month.

Following the skirmishes last weekend and the bombing attempt in Datu Piang, Senior Supt. Rodelio Jocson, Maguindanao police director, on orders of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Toto Mangudadatu, has ordered the deployment of Maguindanao PNP Public Safety Battalion along portions of Cotabato-Gen. Santos highway to prevent roadside bombings.

Major General Romeo Gapuz, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson, had announced the Army had unilaterally suspended operations against the BIFF but its forces remained on alert during the fasting month which starts Wednesday.

Gapuz also appealed to the general public to report any sightings of BIFF members so they can be addressed even before they could carry out atrocities against civilians and military personnel.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=542445