Police see gang war in Quiapo blast; 14 hurt

Red Cross volunteers responded quickly at the blast site in Quiapo, Manil on Friday, April 28, 2017. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine Red Cross)

It was no terror attack, just a neighborhood gang war.

This was how the Manila Police District (MPD) doused speculations that Friday night’s explosion on a crowded street in Quiapo was timed with the Duterte administration’s hosting of the 30th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.

The blast, which happened on the eve of the regional gathering and five kilometers away from the Pasay City complex where 10 heads of state were to meet, ripped through a peryahan or a cluster of game stalls and injured 14 people.

At Malacañang, Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella issued a statement saying “the incident is not in any way connected to or directed at the ongoing Asean summit.”

Investigators said a “homemade pipe bomb” went off near Tower Lodging House on Quezon Boulevard at 10:12 p.m. The MPD director, Chief Supt. Joel Napoleon Coronel, said seven of the victims remained in the hospital as of Saturday afternoon.

Coronel said that two days before the explosion, a male teenager filed a complaint with Barangay 391 chair Arnold Almario for child abuse and physical injuries after he was allegedly mauled by the Kahulugan brothers who went by the nicknames Bebot, Tangki and Komang.

On Thursday, the teenager’s father went to the barangay hall to follow up on the complaint and confront the brothers, but the latter did not appear. This prompted the father to look for the brothers on Quezon Boulevard, where he reportedly made threats against them.

The bomb exploded along that road on Friday night. The MPD had yet to name any suspect as of Saturday and was checking whether security cameras in the area could help pinpoint the perpetrator.

The Kahulugan brothers were not among the injured. Most of the victims were either passersby or workers at the game stalls, the MPD said.

Chief Insp. Kimberly Molitas, spokesperson of the National Capital Police Regional Office, said the homemade pipe bomb used was made with low-grade explosives, like the ones used to make firecrackers.