Sulu leader seeks deeper cathedral blast probe
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Even as five suspects in the Jolo church bombing have surrendered, former Sulu governor Abdusakur Tan Sr. called on authorities not to jump to conclusions and instead dig deeper in their investigation.
Tan said the five suspects who surrendered to the police could be mere accomplices.
“Let’s wait for the complete investigation because those who surrendered can be only part or accessory of a larger group of suspects,” Tan said.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde on Monday announced that the suspects led by Kammah Pae, alias Kamah, surrendered to the military on Sunday in Sulu.
Four others identified as Albaji Gadjali, his sons Kaisar and Rajan, and Salit Alih also surrendered to the military here.
Kammah and his four companions
were tagged as members of Ajang-Ajang, a sub-group of the Abu Sayyaf under Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan.
Albayalde claimed the five surrendered for fear they would be killed in the relentless military operations.
The Sulu provincial police are preparing to file 23 counts of murder and 95 counts of frustrated murder and damage to property against the suspects.
The five suspects who surrendered were among 22 others behind the bombing, according to Albayalde.
Albayalde said 14 suspects including Sawadjaan remain at large. The military has been hunting them down in Patikul since Saturday.
The police identified four of those at large as Makrim Habbisi, Barak Ingog, a certain alias Usman and Arab Puti.
PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Bernard Banac said the case has been solved with the arrest of Kamah and the other suspects.
Banac though clarified the case could not be considered “closed” since there are other suspects still at large.
“Nothing is definite yet, nothing is final because the investigation is ongoing. We have to look deeper into the investigation and we have to look at different angles and different groups,” Tan said.
Tan lamented that if the investigation ends with Kamah, justice will not be served to the victims and people of Jolo and Sulu, as well as victims of other acts of terrorism.
Albayalde gave assurance that Kamah is not their fall guy.
“We conducted tactical interrogation and also followup operations that led to the arrest of the others that were involved,” he said.
The PNP said Kamah reportedly escorted an unidentified Indonesian couple in Sulu after they arrived from an island near Basilan on Jan. 21, a week before the bombing attack.
The couple met with Sawadjaan in Patikul where they hatched the plan to bomb the cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo.
Two bombs tore through the cathedral on Jan. 27 during Sunday mass, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others.
Authorities said the attack was aimed at creating a religious divide and seek support from Islamic State.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año confirmed it was a suicide attack.
“It is officially confirmed it’s a case of suicide bombing,” Año said in a message posted on Viber.
Año cited the results of the post blast and forensic investigations and testimonies of witnesses.
He said efforts are now underway to identify the alleged Indonesian couple.
Año said the Indonesian government has expressed willingness to help in identifying them.
“Identification is in the process but it may take time,” he said.
While foreign terrorists are attempting to sway their counterparts in the country into becoming martyrs, Año said it is unlikely there will be a Filipino who will go to such extremes.
“They underestimate the influence of Filipino culture to our Muslim brothers,” he said.
Failure of intelligence
Detained Sen. Leila de Lima claimed a failure of intelligence led to the Jolo bombing attack.
De Lima criticized President Duterte for his failure to prevent the attacks despite his strong hand against terrorism.
She blamed the intelligence community and questioned how the intelligence fund was being spent.
Malacañang, however, said De Lima was “talking nonsense.”
“Her confinement has dulled her senses,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
Panelo described De Lima, in detention on charges of drug trafficking, as “callous” and “insensitive” for not even considering the plight of soldiers hunting down the suspects.
“The fact that the soldiers were not able to detect the terrorists who disguised themselves as churchgoers is no reason for this criminally accused legislator to be so insensitive as to blame them for the tragedy,” Panelo said.
Panelo said the President has been hard-pressed in crushing the Islamic militants.
“She claims that the President cannot protect the people from the terrorists with his threatening words, forgetting that this is the same President who crushed the dreaded and ruthless ISIS (Islamic State) and their local counterparts in the Marawi siege,” he said.
Panelo said Duterte had declared martial law in battling the enemies of the state.
“Had he not, the entire Mindanao would have been in chaos with bombings and killings a daily occurrence,” he said.
Panelo then accused De Lima of trying to use the present situation to her advantage.
“She tries to reenter the public’s consciousness by dishing out reckless and offensive rants against the President, reducing herself into a pathetic figure and a pitiful caricature,” he said.
“She is better off indulging herself in meditation and prayers so the goodness in her heart comes out in full bloom instead of seeing only the dark side in her dungeon,” Panelo added.