DOJ chief: Is Makati bus blast linked to Mindanao peace process?

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima hinted on Thursday that the deadly explosion that ripped through a passenger bus in Makati City could be linked to the peace process in the volatile southern Philippines. "Is it connected to the peace process that are about to resume?" De Lima said at a news briefing. Peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are about to resume in February. The MILF has denied any hand in the explosion that killed five people. De Lima raised the question amid speculations that the group could be behind the blast. On Wednesday, President Benigo Aquino III had been careful in linking any specific group to the explosion. But citing information from the police and the military, De Lima said that the 81-mm mortar shell used in the bombing bore the signature of the MILF's Special Operations Group, which was allegedly responsible for the bombing of a bus in North Cotabato last year. "Ang sabi ng [Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines] ay yung bomba na yan bears the signature of the MILF SOG dahil yun din daw ang ginamit sa recent bombings including [that of] the rural transit bus in North Cotabato," said De Lima. (The PNP and the AFP said the bomb bears the signature of the MILF special operations group because it has the same components used in recent bombings, including that of the rural transit bus in North Cotabato.) De Lima said that while the government is checking on the angle of terrorism, there has to be a motive behind such act. "An act of terrorism might have as its objective destabilization. Although an act of terrorism is just that — to terrorize. But there has to be some motive or agenda," she said. She then asked: "Is it connected to the peace process that are about to resume?" MILF's denial Earlier in the day, the MILF dismissed speculations that they were behind the bombing. It added that the explosive used and the use of a cellphone to detonate it was "ordinary" technology known to many armed groups and law enforcers. The MILF likewise offered to assist the government in identifying who perpetrated the crime. "Directly and officially we cannot help government, but in our own way we really want to help because the victims are civilians, which would be the concern of everybody," MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal said in an interview on dzRH radio. MILF chief da'wah officer Sheikh Mohammad Muntassir issued a separate statement saying: "We do not target civilians. It is strictly prohibited in Islam that non-combatants are the object of war." He also called on the Aquino administration, especially the police and the military, not to make hasty statements linking the bomb attack to the MILF, saying: "We are in a state of ceasefire with the government." Iqbal also said that the government and the MILF had formed the Joint Action Group (AHJAG) but the group's mandate had lapsed. The AHJAG's mandate will be discussed when the peace talks resume in February. Anti-Terrorism Council Also on Thursday, De Lima denied that the government's Anti-Terrorism Council never convened prior to last Tuesday's blast. The council is chaired by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, with De Lima as vice chair. De Lima said that during a meeting last Wednesday by the Cabinet's security cluster, it was discussed that the council should convene again. "Yesterday we discussed to suggest kay ES Ochoa to convene the ATC and that will be discussed later in the briefing with the President if there is a need to convene the ATC," she said. Board of Claims In a related development, De Lima likewise told that families of the blast's fatalities can apply for a P10,000 compensation from the Department of Justice's Board of Claims. "For the victims of the bus explosion, their families can apply for the Board of Claims [because the bombing] is a heinous crime," she said. De Lima also said application forms are available at the Board of Claims office handled by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano. — RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV