Suspect's phone used in Tacurong blast — probers

A cellphone belonging to the arrested suspect was used to detonate the car bomb that hit the convoy of Maguindanao Governor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu in Sultan Kudarat last week, a TV report said on Monday, quoting investigators. In his exclusive report on GMA News' "24 Oras," reporter Cedric Castillo said police investigators also found a picture in one of Datu Karim Masdal's three cellphones — Nokia 1208, 5130 and E-63 — that matched the artist's sketch of Jay-R Reyes, another suspect in the assassination attempt on Mangudadatu. "The cellphones were turned over to us for purpose of digital examination [and] forensic examination," said Senior Superintendent Pedro Austria Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) in Region 12. "The purpose of the examination is to obtain information from the cellphone." Masdal was arrested 30 minutes after a white Kia Avila rigged with an explosive was detonated along the national highway of Tacurong City while Mangudadatu's convoy was passing by last Aug. 15. Two people were killed in the blast, one of them a board member of Maguindanao province.

Austria said they are still verifying if Jay-R Reyes is really the name of the other suspect. "Kailangan makuha namin yung true name or alyas niya na Jay-R, or Jay-R talaga ang pangalan niya... para malabasan siya ng warrant of arrest for the continuous manhunt operations by the PNP," the police official said. He said a check on Masdal's cellphones showed that one of his contacts was named Jay-R. "It's possible na yun yung JR Reyes." The report also said that a call from one of Masdal's cellphones was made around the same time that the car bomb exploded, leading investigators to believe that the phone was used to detonate the bomb. Masdal has denied involvement in the blast. - KBK, GMA News