3 Davao bomb suspects nabbed

The AFP on Friday presents to the media the suspected terrorists involved in the Davao night market bombing last month. FRANCES MANGOSING/INQUIRER.net

Three suspects in the Sept. 2 bombing of the Roxas Night Market in Davao City had been arrested, a defense official said on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, where the suspects were presented to the media, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the “terrorists,” belonged to the Maute Group.

Lorenza identified the suspects as TJ Macabalang, Wendel Facturan and Musali Mustapha who, he said, were on board a motorcycle without license plates when accosted and arrested by soldiers and policemen for trying to evade a mobile checkpoint in Rosario Heights, Cotabato City, on Tuesday.

Seized from the suspects were materials for making improvised explosive devices (IED), a submachine gun, a caliber .45 pistol and a cellular phone.

15 killed, 70 injured

The suspects were turned over to the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and later brought to the Justice department for inquest.

Fifteen people were killed while some 70 others were injured in the explosion that President Duterte had described as a terror attack. Investigators said the IED was detonated through a cell phone.

Lorenzana said Macabalang had triggered the bomb by remote control, while it was Facturan who had left the backpack with the bomb at the night market. Mustapha, with another unidentified companion, allegedly documented the bombing using another cell phone.

The video from Mustapha’s phone showed the bombing from a distance, with the actual explosion marked by a reddish-orange fountain-like flare and a loud crack.

On one of the videos, some people were heard saying, “Allahu Akbar! (God is great).” Shortly after the explosion,  other voices were heard saying in the vernacular, “It’s frightening,” and “That’s loud!”

The video also showed the person carrying the cell phone approach the site of the explosion amid cries of “Tabang (Help)!” from scurrying passersby.

Informants

Also heard on the video was a phone ringing, with a man answering it and saying, “We’re leaving,” just as the police were arriving at the scene.

Found in the cell phone as well was a video of a laughing Facturan carrying a rifle beside the black flag of the Islamic State, allegedly practicing for a propaganda presentation.

The Defense secretary said “informants” had led to the arrest of the suspects though he declined to disclose their names, saying  operations were ongoing to apprehend some 10 members of the group also involved in the bombing.

Lorenzana said that had the group’s IED failed to explode or inflict casualties, other suspects had planned to lob grenades instead. He added that the Maute group had also planned to bomb other locations in Davao City and Maguindanao province.