PNP arrests 4th suspect, finds 2nd bomb in Manila terror plot

Dela Rosa

The Philippine National Police on Thursday said it had arrested a fourth member of the jihadist Ansar Al-Khilafa Philippines, the group allegedly behind a failed bombing attempt in Manila last month.

Citing the ongoing manhunt for other members of the group, officials withheld the name of the suspect who was arrested in Zambales.

But PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa presented to the media “a second bomb” that the group allegedly brought to Metro Manila from Mindanao.

The improvised explosive device (IED) was composed of a 105-millimeter artillery round, electric blasting caps, wire, fuse plugs, a battery, a slot for a SIM card, and a handheld radio that served as the detonator, Dela Rosa said in a press conference at Camp Crame.  The IED was wrapped in packaging tape.

“It’s a powerful bomb. It has a blast radius of 75 to 80 meters and could kill up to 200 to 300 people in a crowded area,” Dela Rosa said, adding that the artillery round may have been an unexploded ordnance recovered from a battle site or pilfered from a military arsenal.

Bomb buried in muddy field

The PNP chief said the bomb was one of the two brought from Mindanao. Mohammad Jumao-as, the third suspect who was arrested last week, pointed the police to the location of the bomb, which was buried in a muddy field in Bulakan, Bulacan.

“It was ready to explode so [our explosives experts] had to disarm it,” Dela Rosa said.

Jumaa-as and two other suspects, Rashid Kilala and Juaher Guinar, planted the first bomb, made of a mortar round, at Rizal Park on Nov. 28. When it failed to detonate, they retrieved it, replaced the triggering device with a cell phone, and looked for another place to plant the bomb.

They then left it on Roxas Boulevard, some 200 meters from the US Embassy, where it again failed to explode.

The PNP said it was on the hunt for a fifth suspect who, according  to the four who were arrested, had already returned to Mindanao to join the Maute terrorist group.

The police described Ansar-Al-Khalifa Philippines as a group seeking the support of the Islamic State in the Middle East and has links with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the bandit group Abu Sayyaf.