Kidapawan terminal tightens security after bomb found

Kidapawan City is the capital of Cotabato province. | INQUIRER.net

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines — The security inspection at the Kidapawan City Overland Terminal has become more stringent on Monday.

This was two days after bomb experts detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) placed in baggage under a table near the parking area of the Mindanao Bus Liner here on Saturday. The bomb, which had been there for three days, did not explode.

Police said passengers of Mindanao Star were alarmed when they noticed around 6:30 p.m. Saturday several wires and a mobile phone sticking out of a bag that contained dried fish. It had been placed under the bus company’s table near the bus’ parking space.

They reported the strange baggage to the bus management who called the attention of the K9 police personnel who happened to be in the area on Saturday.

Master Sgt. Newton Fajardo, the chief of the K9 unit of Kidapawan City Police Station, said their bomb-sniffing dog sat on the baggage indicating that an IED was inside it.

Fajardo said they immediately cordoned off the place and ordered the passengers to leave.

Lt. Col. Peter Pinalgan, the city police chief, said the baggage had come all the way from Davao City and was turned over by the bus conductor to the dispatcher assigned at the terminal on Thursday.

That was three days before the bomb was found on Saturday.

The bus dispatcher, however, failed to deliver the bag to the addressee, a business owner in the city.

Bomb experts confirmed that it was IED inside the bag.

Lt. Tolindo Ypon, team leader of the Cotabato Provincial Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, said the bag had complete IED components that could harm once exploded.

He explained, though, that the real-time configuration of the mobile phone attached to the explosive could have been delayed, the reason that it never went off despite being left at the public terminal for three days.

“It’s an IED because it has complete component parts. During our practical evaluation, we found out that there was a circuit, initiated through mobile phone,” Ypon explained. “It is a complete IED because it has an initiator and a power source capable of explosion,” he added.

“We will review our security protocols. We will also ask the bus management to explain regarding this,” Pinalgan said.

On Tuesday, March 1, a fragmentation grenade was found near the lavatory of the Mindanao Star bus company’s parking area in Cotabato City.

Dodong Maglasang, the Mindanao Star administrator, said they turned over the unexploded grenade to the Cotabato City Police Office.

At around 7 p.m. on the same day, a loud explosion reportedly caused by dynamite took place inside the parking area of the bus company in Cotabato City.

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