Eleven people, including a one-year-old child, were killed when an explosion tore through a van at an army checkpoint in Lamitan City, Basilan, Tuesday, in what authorities warned could be linked to a wider plot by Islamic militants.
Six hours after the Lamitan explosion, a roadside bomb went off in Antipolo City along the Manila-Infanta Road, injuring two civilians.
In the mainly Christian city of Lamitan, the bomb went off after soldiers and pro-government militia troops stopped a vehicle and tried to search it just after dawn on the outskirts of the city.
One soldier, five militia troops, and four civilians were killed.
The van driver, a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf militant group also died, Armed Forces spokesman Col. Edgard Arevalo told reporters in Manila.
He added that government forces had been on heightened alert after receiving reports that extremists planned to plant improvised explosives in areas around the island.
“We can just imagine the tragedy that this would bring to the people of Basilan had we not stopped them at the checkpoint,” he said.
Basilan is a stronghold of the notorious Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group.
It is one of several armed groups fighting government forces in Mindanao, where a decades-long rebellion has claimed more than 100,000 lives by government count.
Roderick Furigay, the Lamitan vice mayor, speculated that the explosives could have been intended for a parade on Tuesday morning by 4,000 children in the center of the town to mark the country’s “nutrition month.”
“That could have been [the target],” he said on ABS-CBN television. “It’s a good thing they were stopped at the checkpoint.”
President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed a law to create greater autonomy in the south which is hoped to help end the conflict.
Duterte put the southern Philippines including Basilan under martial rule until the end of this year after Abu Sayyaf members based on the island joined pro-Islamic State group militants who seized the southern city of Marawi last year.
The five-month siege killed 1,200 people and destroyed much of the center of the city, which Duterte said the pro-Islamic State militants planned to turn into the capital of a southeast Asian caliphate.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque condemned the Basilan attack, describing it as a “war crime” apparently intended against civilians.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the latest terrorist attack in Basilan perpetrated in violation of our laws,” Roque said in a statement.
Among the fatalities were PFC Sammad Jumah, post commander of the Magwakit Detachment under the 19th Special Forces Company; militiamen Adlan Abdulla, Muid Manda, Teteng Omar, Herminio Gapo and the driver of the van.
Also killed in the bomb explosion were four dependents of militiamen, among them Hadja Radiya, wife of Omar and their son Gabi and Manda’s wife.
An Army officer—Lt. Rojean Rodriguez and three of his men, Sgt. Renante Escanyan, PFC Romeo Frias and PFC Feffrey Martisio and two militiamen— Gerry Inso, and Wilbert Garcia, were also injured in the bomb attack.
CAF members manning the Bulanting checkpoint intercepted and held the driver of a 10-seater van for questioning Tuesday morning. When questioned, the driver who looked like a foreigner, could not speak the local dialect or Tagalog, Yakan or English, prompting the militiamen to seek help from a senior official.
As Lt. Rodriguez approached the van, an explosive device went off, blowing the people nearby to pieces.
The AFP spokesman Arevalo attributed the bomb attack to ASG remnants under the group of Furuji Indama, but said it was unlikely to be a suicide attack.
“What we are saying is that we have no sufficient basis to conclude that this is a lone wolf attack and a suicide bomb attempt,” Arevalo said.
“This group of Furuji Indama is swiftly losing ground. That’s why they are now resorting to these desperate moves to disrupt the mass surrenders from Basilan and Sulu,” Arevalo said.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Carlito Galvez commended the vigilance and dedication of those manning the checkpoint.
“They have foiled an attempt to bring in a vehicle loaded with IEDs to downtown Lamitan City—at the cost of their own lives,” Galvez said.
“While we commend our troops, we condemn in the highest possible terms this… dastardly attempt of terrorists to kill, maim, and injure innocent civilians,” Galvez added.
He said the terrorists will not succeed given the strong collaboration between the military and the local government.
In Zamboanga City, authorities tightened checkpoints and boosted security in coastal and seaports.
Senator Panfilo Lacson yesterday warned of a spate of terrorist attacks in the wake of the Lamitan blast and expressed concern that it was the first of many suicide bombings.
He said the incident should prod the government to step up their intelligence and security capabilities to address the threat.
“I would say, proactive offense prompted by good intelligence is still our best defense,” said Lacson, a former police chief.
Senator Nancy Binay called on the all law enforcement agencies to get to the bottom of the attack.
“I hope what happened today won’t sidetrack our efforts to achieve true peace in Mindanao,” she said.
She said the Filipino people must stand united to fight violence and collectively condemn the cowardly act.
Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said intelligence efforts should be boosted to prevent similar incidents.
“There might be people sowing chaos with the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law [BOL],” he said.
Senator Risa Hontiveros also said the administration must secure peace in the region, and see to it that the attack would not derail efforts to achieve peace and prosperity in the region, especially with the passage of the BOL.
“I stand with the people of Mindanao at this critical time. I join them in condemning this kind of violent extremism,” she said,
In Antipolo, Chief Supt. Edward Carranza, Calabarzon police regional head, said the roadside explosion took place along Sitio Calumpang, Barangay San Jose, Antipolo City at about 11:10 am, just hours after a powerful explosive device went off in Lamitan province.
Carranza said the communist New People’s Army could have been behind the attack against soldiers manning a detachment situated in Barangay San Jose.
He said the explosive device was placed on the grassy road and was detonated as an army vehicle of the 80th Infantry Battalion was about to overtake a tricycle with two occupants.
The explosion injured the two unidentified passengers of the tricycle. With AFP, Nat Mariano