Roxas orders Purisima: Explain why Cagayan de Oro blast scene cleaned

Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines— Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima’s remark that there was nothing wrong when policemen cleaned up the crime scene in the Cagayan de Oro City blast did not sit well with  Interior Secretary Mar Roxas II.

“It’s not okay with me. Maybe for them it’s okay,” Roxas said Friday as he asked Purisima to explain why when he arrived last Saturday at the blast site in the popular Rosario Arcade restaurant strip at Limketkai Mall it was already scrubbed.

Roxas wondered why a crime scene had to be cleaned up only 12 hours after the “grisly explosion” that killed eight people and injured 46 others Friday last week.

Purisima on Tuesday said the site of the bomb attack was cleaned up after Scene of the Crime Operatives and other investigators had finished gathering pieces of evidence by noon the next day.

“So if it’s already finished (gathering of evidence) … and the investigator . . . releases the crime scene, then it would be cleaned,” Purisima told reporters.

At the same time, he said mopping up a scene of a suspected terror attack would “remove any satisfaction they [terrorists] would get from seeing the fruit of their work.”

But Roxas disagreed, saying it would be repeatedly shown on TV.

“He should explain to me what he had said,” Roxas said, adding the most important job of the police is to investigate.

In a separate interview, Purisima said the police investigators could explain the circumstances leading to the cleaning of the crime scene as he maintained his earlier stand that there was nothing wrong with the action.

“The processors will explain everything because I was not in the area when the incident happened. They will explain how they did it,” Purisima said.

He said the investigators present at the crime scene during post blast investigations would tell the exact time the gathering of evidence started, as well the time they finished scouring the bomb site.

They will also identify the pieces of evidence gathered from the blast site, he said.

Purisima said the PNP has coordinated with other agencies, including bomb experts, as investigation continues.

“We have a good progress in the investigation,” he said, but refused to say any possible motive behind the attack.