'Detonator' recovered from Batasan blast site

(Updated 4:10 p.m.) The Metro Manila police said it has recovered cellphone parts from the Batasan Pambansa blast site that was possibly used as a bomb detonator, radio dzBB said. The radio report quoted Director Geary Barias, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), as saying that the cellphone components now being examined at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory. He said these might be able to validate initial fears that the explosion was caused by a bomb, the report added. Barias showed photographs of the recovered cellphone parts and nails believed to be part of the improvised explosive device (IED). The items bore burn signs. Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, Quezon City Police Director, was named chief investigator of the incident. He said the cellular phone could have been the command activator of the IED. Barias theorized the two items could just have been mixed with TNT or dynamite like in other cases. "This could not be an accident," he said in Filipino. Asked Wednesday if terrorism is already ruled out in the investigation, Barias said: "It looks like that is the case. There is a target and the target could be (Congressman) Akbar." PNP chief Gen. Avelino Razon Jr said their theory that Akbar is the target of the blast is based on the fact that he was nearest to the source of the explosion and he is "the most colorful" as far as threats to life is concerned compared with the other hurt members of Congress. "We are looking at that angle, but we are not totally saying that indeed he (Akbar) is the target. We need to get more evidence so we are now in the process of ascertaining the threats against Congressman Akbar," Razon said. Akbar expired about two hours after the explosion while being treated at the Far Eastern University Hospital. He was laid to rest in Isabela City in Basilan on Wednesday afternoon. Maan Gale Bustaliño, a staff member of Negros Oriental Rep. Pryde Henry Teves, who was also injured in the explosion, expired while being transfered from Malvar General Hospital on Commonwealth Avenue to the St. Luke's Medical Center on E. Rodriguez Sr. boulevard. Bustaliño, a law student at the University of the Philippines, was rerouted to the Capitol Medical Center on Quezon Avenue instead where she was pronounced dead. The driver of Gabriela party-list Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan, Marcial Taldo, was also killed. Razon said they are now looking into the possible lapses of police personnel manning the vicinity of Congress. He said that on Wednesday morning, members of the Special Action Force (SAF) took over the Police Security and Protection Office (PSPO) in securing the Lower House and the Senate, as well. Tuesday night's blast was a historic first at the House of Representatives, said Razon. The PNP also said it will examine the closed-circuit television (CCTV) video of the Batasan Pambansa south wing entrance where the blast occurred. As this developed, Ilagan, who was wounded in the incident, underwent surgery on Wednesday afternoon to remove shrapnel from her leg. She was sedated as of posting time. Injured Negros Oriental Rep. Pryde Henry Teves, was breathing with the aid of a respirator at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the same hospital. His grandfather, former Negros Oriental Rep. Herminio Teves, relayed the information to GMA News. - GMANews.TV