Police still clueless on Makati lot blast

MANILA, Philippines—Police on Tuesday remained silent as to the official cause and the culprits behind an explosion at a vacant lot in Makati City on Monday that damaged windows in nearby buildings.

Makati Police Chief Superintendent Jaime Santos said in a television interview that investigators were still piecing together the fragments recovered from the blast site and in neighboring buildings.

However, he said the explosion could have been planned.

“We could say that the explosion was planned. It could also be that it was a test [for an explosive],” he said.

They were not looking into terrorism as a possible motive, Santos added.

“What is important is that nobody was hurt,” he said.

Chief Inspector Jenny Tecson, spokesperson of the Southern Police District (SPD), said the investigation had been turned over to the Special Investigation Task Force De la Costa under the SPD.

The team will be led by Supt. Federico Castro Jr., who is also the deputy district director for operations of the SPD.

Tecson confirmed that as of Tuesday, investigators were still piecing together the fragments recovered from the blast site and on nearby buildings.

Police earlier hoped that investigators could shed light on the incident by Tuesday.

Tecson assured the public that the task force was doing its best to finish the investigation as soon as possible.

No one was hurt in the incident, but fragments from the improvised explosive device broke several glass windows on the sixth and seventh floors of Salcedo Park Condominium, which is located beside the lot.

Also damaged were several glass panels on the ground floor of the nearby Classico 1 Building.

The rear window of a black Subaru sedan parked beside the vacant lot was also shattered.

Originally posted: 1:15 pm | Tuesday, January 24th, 2012