Maute group eyed in Leyte blasts

Cris Ann Jane Abina, 7, kisses the hand of President Duterte, who visited her and other victims of the twin bombings in Hilongos town in Leyte province last month. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

TACLOBAN CITY—Police are looking at the involvement of members of the Maute terror group in the twin blasts that injured 32 people in Hilongos town in Leyte province on Dec. 28, after tests on bomb fragments showed these were similar to the components of the group’s signature weapon.

Chief Insp. Ma. Bella Rentuaya, information officer of the Eastern Visayas regional police office, said a special team from the Philippine Bomb Data Center examined the fragments of the improvised explosive devices that went off at Plaza Rizal in Hilongos while residents were watching a boxing match to celebrate the town fiesta.

“Based on their investigation, the suspects were believed to be from Maute group [and] used the same [type of] explosives found near the United States Embassy [in Manila] and in Bulacan [province],” Rentuaya said.

The special team, which conducted its investigation on Jan. 2, examined the fragments of 81 mm mortar and 60 mm mortar rounds, similar to the bombs found in a trash bin near the US Embassy on Nov. 28 and on Dec. 7 in Bulakan town in Bulacan.

 Bomb scare

It was in Bulakan where Rayson Sakdal Kilala and Mohammad Jumao-as, the suspects in US Embassy bomb scare, were arrested by the police.

Authorities said the explosion in Hilongos could have been done in relation to the police’s campaign against illegal drugs that led to the arrest of a local drug courier and the confiscation of fake P1,000 bills.

“But [those] conclusions were still linked to the findings that those responsible in the Hilongos blasts were members of the Maute group, as they were also into illegal drugs,” Rentuaya said.

“But this incident is isolated, being the first of its kind to happen [in Eastern Visayas],” she said.

Rentuaya, however, said the bombings prompted Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, regional police director, to order all provincial, town and city police chiefs in Eastern Visayas to be on alert and review security measures in their respective areas.

 Relieved

Chief Insp. Alberto Renomeron Jr., police chief of Hilongos, was relieved last week following the blasts.

Renomeron  was transferred to the Leyte provincial police office where he would be placed on a “floating status.” Rentuaya said Chief Insp. Ronald Espina, formerly with the Leyte police’s public safety battalion, replaced Renomeron.

 Task force

She said Renomeron’s relief was part of the police’s standard operating procedure whenever an investigation is ongoing. But she said Renomeron is still part of a special task force created to hasten the investigation on the bombings.

Beltejar, Rentuaya said, wanted the police to set up checkpoints in strategic areas and ensure maximum police visibility. She said authorities have also urged the public to cooperate in efforts to stop terror attacks by reporting activities of suspicious individuals in their communities.