Interior chief Robredo avoids roadside blasts in Cotabato

MANILA, Philippines—Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo avoided a roadside bomb that rocked Cotabato City Tuesday on the way to a forum featuring candidates for officers-in-charge of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

He was in a convoy en route to the forum at the Office of the Regional Governor in the ARMM Complex when two improvised explosives planted 20 meters apart exploded beside Sinsuat Avenue.

No one was hurt in the simultaneous blasts that occurred some 500 meters away from the forum.

“We were supposed to go on that route in the morning, but we changed routes,” said Robredo, who did not sound particularly perturbed by the blasts when the Philippine Daily Inquirer reached him by phone in the afternoon.

Asked if he was alarmed, he said no. “It’s part of the job. There’s no problem. These things shouldn’t stop us from performing our jobs.”

Robredo admitted that he earlier got a police report of a possible security threat about an hour before the blasts took place.

The warning came from Director Felicisimo Khu, chief of the Philippine National Police’s Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao (DIPOWM).

Khu told Robredo of “places of convergence” in the city, including crowds of 500 mostly young people on Sinsuat Avenue and 350 persons at the plaza.

“We are closely monitoring the possible entry of IED (improvised explosive devices) into the city. The TDIPOWM (the Director, DIPOWM) will be at PC Hill to monitor the whole situation during DILG’s visit,” the report said.