Bus blast suspect facing raps

From the Sun Star-Cagayan de Oro (Dec 12): Bus blast suspect facing raps

AUTHORITIES have filed charges against the suspect in the bombing of a passenger bus that claimed the lives of 10 persons and injured 42 others across the main gate of Central Mindanao University (CMU) in Barangay Dologon, Maramag, Bukidnon.

Bukidnon Provincial Police Chief Glenn dela Torre said the complaints against suspect Macmod Manibpil, alias “Mang,” were filed before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Malaybalay City Thursday afternoon.

The complaints were docketed under IS-X-10-INV-14L-00463.

Senior Inspector Rodolfo Dongiapon, provincial investigation officer of Bukidnon police, said Manibpil is facing multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder charges for the explosion

Dela Torre said Manibpil was identified through the testimonies of a driver of a Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. (RTMI) who was onboard the RTMI bus number 2640 and who saw the suspect, as well as other passengers who got a closer look of the alleged perpetrator.

Dela Torre added the suspect boarded somewhere in Barangay Barandias, Pangantucan, Bukidnon and get off from the bus a few meters away from the CMU bus stop before the explosion.

He said the driver, whom police did not identify, saw Manibpil getting a battery from a “sako bag” placed in the overhead baggage rack.

The driver said a bottle of mineral water fell from the bag when the suspect opened it.

He said the suspect was with a woman and a child when he got off.

Manibpil, dela Torre said, had a standing warrant of arrest, and was one of the 49 prisoners who escaped when a special operations group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) broke them out of a detention facility in Kidapawan City in 2007.

He added Manibpil is a member of the Bangsamo Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) who was responsible for the November 6 bombing of another RTMI bus, which injured four passengers. No one was killed in that incident.

Same bomb detonated at Ketkai’s Kyla’s

PO3 Dominic Lumbay, a bomb expert and member of the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) RTMI 2640 (referring to the body number of the bombed bus), said the improvised explosive device (IED) used in last Tuesday’s bombing was the same that was detonated outside Kyla’s Bistro inside the Lim Ket Kai complex last year.

Based on the fragments found by investigators on the scene of the incident, the IED was composed of an 81-millimeter mortar, which weighs about three to four kilograms, and a cellular phone, which acted as the bomb’s trigger device.

Lumbay said the mortar used in another RTMI bus bombing on November 6 was a 60mm type, and the latest IED had more explosive power and impact. “The 81 mm mortar has more intensity,” he added.

Aside from extortion, other the possible motives established by the investigators include trade competition, furtherance of their cause, to embarrass the government, retaliation after the police filed a case against the suspect in the November 6 explosion, dela Torre said.

He said it’s also possible the inclusion of more routes of the RTMI has threatened other public utility vehicles plying the Bukidnon area and may have caused some individuals to sabotage the operations of the bus company.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2014/12/12/bus-blast-suspect-facing-raps-381569