Case of 2 SAF men linked to bus blast isolated, says Robredo

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo said he continued to trust the elite Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police  in spite of the purported involvement of two of its members in the Makati bus bombing in January 2011 that killed four people.

“I’m confident that no other officials or officers (of the SAF) were involved,” Robredo said, noting that the SAF, now under the leadership of Director Catalino Cuy, had changed since the incident.

But Robredo said further and deeper investigation was needed in order to shed light into the possible motives behind the alleged participation of Police Officer 2 Arnold Mayo and the deceased PO3 Jose Torralba in the bus bombing at the corner of EDSA and Buendia Avenue.

“The suspect, Mayo, is not saying anything. So we need to do a deeper background check on this person,” he said.

Witnesses pointed to Mayo and Torralba as two of those who boarded the Fairview-bound bus on Jan. 25, 2011 and alighted minutes before the explosive went off.

The two also made the news on Jan. 26 (almost exactly a year after the Makati explosion) when they attempted to open a vintage bomb at a junk shop in Bicutan, Taguig City before it exploded. Torralba died in the blast, along with three others.

Robredo said he could not speculate as to the motivations behind the Makati blast, including whether it had been a destabilization plot or a diversionary tactic.

He said he believed the case of the two SAF men was an isolated one.

“It’s not an overnight effort to get rid of all the problems of the police organization,” Robredo said.