A video grab shows a Philippine Army Simba after almost being hit by the blast from an improvised explosive device believed to have been planted by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters along a road in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Tuesday, Feb. 4. GMA News
A dull, muffled explosion shook our vehicle and our field of view quickly filled with black smoke. The wall of smoke swallowed the armored personnel carrier (APC) in front of us just as rock and shrapnel rained down on our vehicle.
Last February 4, our media car had been following a convoy of military vehicles on our way to the town of Rajah Buayan in Maguindanao when the IED (improvised explosive device) detonated along the roadside.
News safety protocol dictates journalists following military vehicles should always keep a good distance behind the convoy in case the soldiers come under attack. We were at least 10 car lengths away from the last APC in the convoy when the IED exploded.
For a few seconds, we sat in silence, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The military vehicles did not even slow down and quickly disappeared.
Suddenly, everyone in the car was talking and giving directions to our driver. I kept shouting for him to not go forward, while the other members of my team were screaming for him to put the vehicle in reverse.
"Naka-roll ka ba?" I said to no one in particular, hoping someone had been filming when the explosion happened. Our camera was rolling.
The vehicle lurched forward and backward like a stricken beast. I ordered my crew out and started walking away from the explosion.
I tried to keep calm, both for myself and to keep my cameraman and other members of the crew from panicking.
I tried to keep calm, both for myself and to keep my cameraman and other members of the crew from panicking.
I fought every urge to run as fast as I could to the other media personnel who were already filming the aftermath a hundred meters away from us.
Years of covering southern Philippines as well as my training taught me to always expect a secondary bomb within the vicinity.
Years of covering southern Philippines as well as my training taught me to always expect a secondary bomb within the vicinity.
Thankfully, there was no second explosion.
Agence France-Presse freelance photographer Mark Navales, a veteran of the long-running Maguindanao conflict, was also in the media convoy.
"This is the first time I've actually seen an IED explode in front of me," he tells us.
Rommel Lopez of TV5 and Ron Gagalac of ABS-CBN were also with us along with their crews.
It had been a close call, one that came a few days after two fellow journalists, Jeff Caparas and camerman Adrian Bulatao of TV5, were wounded in a secondary bomb explosion in the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao.
Before that, another IED went off in the town of Datu Piang, injuring two civilians.
Triggering devices
Military and police officials in the province believe the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was responsible for the blasts.
The BIFF, which has been launching periodic attacks against government troops since it splintered from the MILF in 2008, had been the subject of a government offensive since Jan. 27.
The military operations are meant dislodge the rebels from their communities in Datu Piang and Shariff Saydona Mustapha.
The military operations are meant dislodge the rebels from their communities in Datu Piang and Shariff Saydona Mustapha.
"They are getting desperate, that's why they are resorting to terrorism, " says Colonel Edgar Gonzales, the commanding officer of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade.
Among the items recovered from one of the camps of the BIFF were mortar rounds and other military munitions. The military also found two-way radios and mobile phones in various states of disassembly. The military said these were used as triggering devices for the IEDs.
Also found in one of the camps were books on Islamic jihad and the accomplishments of al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden, as well as instructional materials on electronics.
Even more chilling information was found in a small note that listed the various thicknesses of body armor used by soldiers, SWAT and local police as well as the most effective distances to neutralize each type of armor.
Khalifa Islamiyah?
A black flag with white Arabic letters was recovered by the troops from among the things left behind by the BIFF rebels. What it represents is still uncertain.
A source from the military intelligence community says similar flags have been recovered deep inside rebel lairs in the Lanao area and in Basilan.
They say the flag belongs to the shadowy Khalifa Islamiyah, a group of radicals purportedly led by foreign terrorists and bomb experts Marwan and a certain Mauwiyah.
They say the flag belongs to the shadowy Khalifa Islamiyah, a group of radicals purportedly led by foreign terrorists and bomb experts Marwan and a certain Mauwiyah.
Military officials in Maguindanao say they are constantly validating reports of the group's existence.
IEDs not aimed at media
Police Senior Superintendent Rodelio Jocson, Maguindanao Provincial Police Office director, says despite the close calls, the military and police will not restrict the movements of members of the press.
"We will, however, advise you which areas are dangerous. But, ultimately, it will still be your call whether to proceed or not," he says.
"We will, however, advise you which areas are dangerous. But, ultimately, it will still be your call whether to proceed or not," he says.
He says there is no evidence that whoever was setting off the explosions was targeting members of the media. He said, though, that since IEDs are a reality that journalists have to consider whenever covering Maguindanao, training and proper safety equipment are a must.
Thankfully, our news team had both.
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