Methane gas, not bomb, caused Glorietta 2 blast

UPDATED 1:30 p.m. - A Department of Justice (DOJ) special fact-finding panel said methane gas, not a bomb, has caused the Glorietta 2 blast in October 2007. In a report dated January 12, 2011, the panel said there was not enough evidence to back the claims of retired Army Col. Allan Sollano, who claimed that the explosion was caused by a bomb, and not by methane gas as the police had earlier ruled. "After a judicious examination of the evidence, the [panel] finds the claim of Col. Allan V. Sollano... not worthy of credence," said the report, which was prepared by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong and Assistant State Prosecutor Gino Paulo Santiago. The report then recommended disciplinary action against Sollano for supposedly obstructing justice and making false claims. "There is a need for proper authorities to conduct an investigation on the possible culpability of Col. Sollano and other persons who may have acted with him for violation of Presidential Decree No. 1829 penalizing the obstruction of apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders," said the report. GMANews.TV tried to reach Sollano's lawyer, Egbert Buenviaje, for comment but he could not be contacted as of posting time. Sollano's claims Sollano had claimed the explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City on October 19, 2007 was caused by a bomb, alleging that a previous police investigation was whitewashed to cover up for the administration of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. At the time of the blast, Sollano headed the Army's Explosive Ordinance Division (EOD). He retired in April 2008. The police and earlier DOJ panel ruled that the blast at the diesel tank at the Glorietta 2 basement was caused by methane gas. Sollano surfaced in 2010 and said that an improvised explosive device caused the explosion. The plastic bag Sollano claimed that he recovered a burnt plastic bag on top of the diesel tank when he examined the seat of the explosion. The plastic bag later tested positive for traces of RDX, a component of C4 bomb. However, the DOJ panel gave weight to the testimonies of Police Superintendent Juanita Ramos, who said Sollano found the plastic bag not on top of the diesel fuel tank, but at the back of a Honda Civic parked at a restaurant near the blast site. Chief Inspector Victor Drepete, head of the Philippine National Police's Chemistry Division, also said only the plastic bag tested positive for traces of RDX and that the seat of the explosion had no traces of the bomb component. The report said that assuming that Sollano indeed found the bag on top of the diesel tank, "we are at a quandary as to why such bag tested positive for the presence of RDX, while the diesel fuel tank, its vicinity and articles recovered there were either negative for the presence of explosives and/or explosive ingredients." 'Of doubtful character' The report then ruled that the plastic bag that Sollano claimed recovered was "seriously of doubtful character." The investigative panel then questioned Sollano's motives for coming forward and claiming that a bomb caused the explosion. "The logical conclusion that could be drawn from testimonial as well as physical evidence presented is that the burnt plastic bag allegeldy recovered by Col. Allan Sollano is seriously of doubtful character,' said the report. "The evidence and circumstances disproving the claims of Col. Sollano brings to light the question regarding his intent in coming forward and making assertions that the explosion was caused by an IED/bomb," it added. The panel then sustained the earlier findings of the PNP and a DOJ panel that the blast was caused by methane gas. "The undersigned concurs with the resolution of the panel of psoecutiosrs dated April 23, 2008 insofar as it finds that the Glorietta 2 explosion was probably caused by ignition of biogas/diesel fumes," said the report. – LBG, VVP, GMANews.TV