Bus bombing in Koronadal came after extortion attempt on liner — Danao

POLICE PROBE A police bomb squad member inspects a passenger bus hit by an explosion in front of a mall in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, on Thursday. —JEOFFREY MAITEM

MANILA, Philippines — One of the angles that investigators are looking at regarding the bus bombing in Koronadal City, South Cotabato is a failed extortion attempt on the bus liner, Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. said on Monday.

Danao, during a briefing after the flag ceremony in Camp Crame, explained that owners of the bus that exploded  along General Santos Drive in Koronadal last Thursday had rejected extortion attempts from still unnamed parties.

However, the PNP chief said investigators have not completely abandoned the possibility of a terrorist attack.

“Meron tayong mga information na we have gathered ‘no, but this is yet to be validated, if these are really terrorist acts that were perpetrated by these criminals,” Danao said.

“So as of now, we’re still digging deeper kasi sabi ko nga initially no’ng last week, ang isang report po kasi there was an extortion attempt from those bus liners and the owners refused to give in,” he added.

READ: Blast hits passenger bus in Koronadal City, 2 hurt

Reports on which groups are possibly behind the bombing are still being validated, Danao noted.

“So it would be more of the extortion activities coming from the suspects. So ‘yong regarding sa terrorist act, eh iba-validate pa natin kung (So regarding whether this is a terrorist act, we are validating) how true ‘yong (the) information,” he said.

“It could be anyone, it could be from the terrorists, it could be from NPA, or it could be from anyone who just wanted to extort from this bus liner,” he added

Danao on Friday said that a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) security measures in points of convergence and at transportation terminals and stops in the area have been hardened after the bombing, as the PNP in the area has been in full alert.

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