PNP: Body parts in Jolo blast not from victims

Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said yesterday that they have coordinated with their Indonesian counterparts to possibly identify the recovered limbs in the aftermath of the twin bombings in a cathedral in Jolo, Sulu last month.

Albayalde confirmed that the two pairs of feet – one from a woman and the other from a man – did not match any of the deoxyribonucleic acid of the 23 fatalities in the Jan. 27 bombings at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral.

The country's top cop, however, said the woman's feet matched the DNA of the piece of nape which was also found in the blast site.

"What's new here is 'yong pares ng babae na paa ay pareho doon sa nakuha sa part na nape o batok na babae rin. So same person 'yong isang pares ng pambabae at 'yong part ng batok na nakuha pero walang nag-match doon sa DNA nila sa 23 na namatay," Albayalde said.

This development further strengthened the speculations of the police and military that the pairs of limbs came from the two suspected foreign suicide bombers who carried out the bomb attack.

"Ang analysis dito, may nawawala talagang dalawa na unidentified pa," Albayalde admitted.

However, with the impact of the blast, authorities believe the bodies of the two unaccounted casualties will never be found since it may have been reduced to bits.

Meanwhile, Albayalde said the Indonesian police came in the country two weeks ago to help the PNP in their on-going investigation.

He said they were the same personnel who investigated the Bali, Indonesia bombings in 2012 where three bomb incidents – including a case of suicide bombing, were recorded in separate areas in the capital city, killing 202 people and wounding 209 others.