Cellphone used as trigger device in bus blast

From the Sun Star-Cagayan de Oro (Nov 7): Cellphone used as trigger device in bus blast

THE improvised explosive device (IED) used in the bombing of a passenger bus in Barangay Dologon in Maramag town, Bukidnon on Thursday was activated by a cellular phone, authorities said Friday.

Maramag police deputy chief Jose Regner Sevilleno said investigation showed that the circuit board of a cellular phone that was attached to the improvised explosive device could be the bomb's triggering device.

Aside from a mobile phone’s part, Sevilleno said the police also discovered that the IED is made of 60 mm mortar, one of the most commonly used materials in an improvised bomb.

He said a task group has been created to focus on the investigation of the bombing incident. The group is composed of the Bukidnon Provincial Police, Maramag Police, Police Crime Laboratory, Explosive and Ordnance Division, and other law enforcement agencies.

Sevilleno said that two of the injured passengers underwent minor operation Friday to remove the fragments of the IED that hit them when the bomb went off around 12:15 p.m. Thursday.

Passenger Paquito Bijares, from Don Carlos, Bukidnon, had an IED shard removed from his left leg, while Daniel Sincero, from Kibawe, Bukidnon, had surgery on his back to extract the bomb fragment.

Bijares and Sincero were confined at the Valencia Sanitarium Hospital in Valencia City where they underwent surgery.

The other passengers, Diodola Fostanes, from Iligan City, and Ilyn Mancao, from Kibawe, were discharged Thursday after their wounds had been treated.

Meanwhile, Major Christian Uy, spokesman of the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID), said Friday that soldiers were sent to the crime scene following the incident and has deployed 23rd Infantry Battalion to the area to assist the police in the investigation and secure the civilians.

After knowing that the bomb used was an IED, Uy said 4ID chief Major General Oscar Lactao ordered all the military units under his responsibility to be extra vigilant and exercise extreme precautionary measures.

He added the 4ID command has also directed the troops to conduct checkpoints to preempt other similar attacks.

Uy said only the police investigators can determine the composition of the IED since they have the skill and expertise to trace the signature of the bomb that could point to the perpetrators behind the explosion.

He said the military is sharing its intelligence with the police to help fast-track the investigation.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2014/11/07/cellphone-used-trigger-device-bus-blast-375315