Glorietta blast 'whistleblower' claims having security threats

Retired Army Col. Allan Sollano, who claimed that the previous investigation into the Glorietta 2 blast in 2007 was whitewashed, did not show up at the Department of Justice's new fact-finding investigation on Tuesday because of supposed security threats. Lawyer Egbert Buenviaje, counsel of Sollano, said his client told him of the supposed security concerns over the weekend, although he admitted that he wasn't able to talk to Sollano, the former head of the Army's Explosive and Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team, before the DOJ hearing. "He (Sollano) mentioned to us over the weekend that he has certain security concerns, but he failed to exhaustively discuss what these were. Usually, we'd meet an hour or two before the hearing, but we didn't get any communication from him [today]," Buenviaje told reporters. Sollano had claimed the explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City last Oct. 19, 2007 was caused by a bomb and not by methane gas as police had earlier ruled. He alleged the investigation was whitewashed to cover up for the previous administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Sollano faced the DOJ inquiry last Nov. 18, 2010 and stood by his earlier claims. His former superior, incumbent Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Ricardo David, however, denied there was a cover-up in the investigation. On Tuesday, Sollano was supposed to present a piece of evidence backing his claim and attest to the authenticity of his supplemental affidavit in the possession of his lawyer. Buenviaje said he will do his best to contact his client so he can show up at the next hearing on December 14. Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong, who heads the DOJ panel conducting the fact-finding probe, said that if Sollano fails to show up at the next hearing, "we will throw away this affidavit." "[Retired] Col. Sollano should be here next hearing to reaffirm his affidavit before us. Otherwise, I'll just throw that to the waste basket," said Ong. — Sophia Dedace/RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV