Criminal complaint filed vs 2 suspects in Cotabato bus blast

KIDAPAWAN CITY — A criminal complaint against two suspects in the bombing of a Rural Transit bus last week in Cotabato province that killed 10 people were filed Tuesday at the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor here, police said. Senior Inspector Joyce Birrey, spokesperson for the North Cotabato Provincial Police Office, identified the suspects only with their aliases "Torex" and "Shiang." The other suspect, a 15-year-old boy who admitted having planted the bomb inside the passenger bus, was not included on the charge sheet. Police said he will be made a witness in the incident. Contrary to reports, the suspect-turned-witness was not arrested but voluntarily yielded to authorities a day after the bombing. The blast occurred around 10:30 a.m. last October 21, when the bus was cruising in Dilapitan village in Matalam town. Birrey refused to identify the boy for his security, aside from his being a minor. The boy reportedly told authorities that he could no longer ‘carry the burden of guilt’ for having participated in the crime. He allegedly admitted to authorities that he was paid considerable sums of money after he carried and planted the bag with an improvised explosive device (IED) inside the bus. After getting the ‘vital information’ from the boy, Superintendent Alex Tagum, appointed by National Police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo as head of the Rural Transit Bus task force, immediately launched operations against the suspects on Saturday, together with elements of the Task Force Tugis, Cotabato City Police Office, and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Region 12. Police arrested four people, including Torex and Shiang, in their hideout in Nayon Shariff Kabungsuwan, Cotabato City. They were later brought to the headquarters of the North Cotabato PNP in Amas Complex here. But on Sunday afternoon, two of the four suspects were released for lack of evidence, sources said. Tagum said the teenager whom they considered as a vital witness to the crime would be secured by his men. Also, his rights as a child would be considered. — RSJ, GMANews.TV