NBI ordered to subpoena 2 other Bar blast suspects

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to invite for questioning the two other suspects in the grenade-throwing incident that marred the last day of this year's Bar examinations in Manila. Interviewed on Thursday, De Lima said she told NBI National Capital Region director Constantino Joson to issue subpoenas to the two suspects, whom she still did not identify. She had earlier said the two are members of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity. "I want them subpoenaed," De Lima told reporters, referring to the suspects. The two allegedly facilitated the escape of fellow APO member Anthony Leal Nepomuceno after he allegedly lobbed the grenade at a densely-packed area outside the De La Salle Campus in Manila last September 26. More than 40 people were hurt. Nepomuceno is facing charges of multiple frustrated murder and multiple attempted murder. He has since maintained innocence, saying he was in his Marikina home when the incident happened. When he surrendered himself to the NBI last October, he was accompanied by APO elders like Vice President Jejomar Binay and former Justice secretary Silvestre Bello. A word war ensued between APO elders and De Lima, who announced that the two other suspects who aided Nepomuceno's escape were APO members too. The fraternity said De Lima is prejudging the case even before a preliminary investigation is conducted. The Justice Department, through State Prosecutor Gerald Gaerlan, is conducting a preliminary investigation on the complaint against Nepomuceno. - Sophia M. Dedace/KBK, GMANews.TV