Marwan ‘plan’ to bomb Pope’s convoy revealed
MANILA — The Malaysian bomber Zulkifli Abdhir, alias “Marwan” had planned to explode a bomb while the convoy of Pope Francis was in Manila on January 18, sacked Philippine National Police Special Action Force head Getulio Napeñas Jr. told the Senate hearing Monday.
The bomb of Marwan, who was one of the United States’ FBI Most Wanted Terrorists, was to be exploded on T.M. Kalaw Street in Manila.
Napeñas detailed his own ex- perience as well as those of Marwan’s at the Senate hearing on the aftermath of the deadly Mamasapano clash in which 44 elite policemen were killed.
On the other hand, the head of the Board of Inquiry on the Ma- masapano mission said no less than 10 operations had been laid out to get Marwan, the Malaysian terrorist blamed for the deaths of 46 Filipinos, on top of the Bali bombings that killed over 200.
Reached for comments, military spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla Jr. said they also received information on Marwan’s supposed plan to bomb the papal convoy during his visit in the Philippines last month.
“We got wind of this piece of info but this was unverified and unconfirmed information,” Padilla said in a text message to GMA News Online.
He also said that the security plan on the papal visit was adjusted to ensure the pontiff’s safety.
“Just the same planning adjustments were made in consideration of this and to ensure protection of the Pope,” he added.
Pope Francis held a Mass at Quirino Grandstand on January 18, an event attended by an estimated 6 million Catholic devotees.
MAGALONG VOWS JUSTICE, TRUTH
Appearing at a joint Senate hearing of three panels, Director Benjamin Magalong, chief of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said the protégé of Marwan, Filipino bomb maker Abdul Basit Usman, is in turn blamed for the deaths of 17 people and injury of 62 others in a deadly career - starting from the 2002 Fitmart blast that killed 15 people in General Santos City to a 2008 bombing in Cotabato City.
Both Marwan and Usman are subjects of multiple warrants for murder issued by a Kidapawan court. Marwan is on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists, with a $6-million bounty.
Magalong provided senators his initial report based on interviews with over 300 SAF members mobilized for Oplan Exodus, and a review of call and text logs, among others.
However, he qualified his presentation by saying it was his initial understanding of what really happened on Jan. 25 based on materials available, and does not represent any prejudgment or conclusion in any way.
“We will give justice to our SAF heroes... by seeking the truth,” vowed Magalong, who was appointed to head the ad hoc Board of Inquiry amid widespread outrage over the huge death toll of the operation.
The SAF leadership said their assault team killed Marwan in his nipa hut in a cornfield in the marshy Tukanalipao village, and had to cut off his index finger for DNA lab tests after coming under heavy fire from a combined MILF and BIFF group.
Usman escaped during the melee, and President Benigno Aquino III on Friday told the MILF to either help get Usman, or “stand aside” while State forces come in to capture him.