The Department of Justice has indicted five suspects in the Jan. 27 bomb attack on a Catholic church in Jolo, Sulu that killed 23 people.
The department said the principal suspect Mukammar Pay alias Kammah and four others have been charged before the Jolo, Sulu regional trial court with 23 counts of murder and 95 counts of frustrated murder.
Also charged in court were Albadji Gadjali alias Apah, Radjan Gadjali, Kaisar Gadjai and Said Alih.
DOJ spokesman Mark Perete said the Sulu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office found probable cause on the charges filed by the Philippine National Police against the five suspects after inquest proceedings on Monday.
The cases filed by the prosecutors unidentified suspects tagged in the twin attacks.
Kammah, alleged bomb maker and a brother of slain Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Surakah Ingog, is reportedly the leader of the Ajang Ajang subgroup of the terrorist group.
Kammah has denied involvement in the bomb attack.
However, prosecutors cited eyewitness accounts that pointed to him as one of the culprits as the basis for indicting him and other respondents.
The DOJ said there is no plan yet to transfer the cases from Sulu to a court in Metro Manila.
“The evidence and witnesses necessary to prosecute the case are in Jolo. Hence, it would be more efficient to hold trial there unless compelling reasons exist for the transfer of trial to Manila,” he said.
The first bomb went off inside the church as Mass was being celebrated at about 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 27. Shortly afterward, a second bomb went off outside, in time to kill churchgoers rushing out and soldiers and police responding to the first blast.
The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack, but local authorities tagged the Abu Sayyaf Group for the incident, even as they acknowledged that an Indonesian couple may have been used as suicide bombers.
READ: ISIS owns up to Jolo blasts
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, meanwhile, said the National Bureau of Investigation will determine if a spate of bomb attacks in Mindanao were related.
The probe would include three blasts in Lanao del Norte that went off in Lanao del Norte on Tuesday, and a grenade attack on a mosque that killed two visiting missionaries in Zamboanga City last week.
“The NBI will try to see if the spate of bombings are interconnected,” Guevarra said.
The first blast occurred in front of a gas station in Lala town at 4:35 p.m., followed by another explosion at the back of the Kauswagan municipal building 15 minutes later.
The third explosion happened at the Mindanao State University High School in Sultan Naga Dimaporo at around 9:30 p.m.
No injuries were reported.
READ: Jolo blasts: 20 dead, 81 hurt
Guevarra said the NBI faced difficulties in its probe of the Jolo bomb attack because the physical evidence on the site had not been properly preserved. Because of this, Guevarra said he gave the bureau more time to complete its investigation.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año earlier said that two Indonesian suicide bombers were behind the bombings, citing intelligence sources.
The woman reportedly detonated the first improvised explosive device inside the church while the man detonated the second one outside near the entrance.
In Jolo, Sulu, the police reported the death of an Abu Sayyaf member as troops continued to press the attack against the terrorist group.
Chief Supt. Amador Corpus, acting director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said ASG member Alex Habbibondin, alias Amah Alex was killed in a manhunt operation in Jolo, Sulu at about 4:30 a.m.
At least three ASG bandits were killed and dozens were wounded in operations against the group. With PNA
Four days after a firefight in Brgy. Kabbon Takas, police units from the Special Action Force and CIDG operatives, moved to hunt down the terrorists.
The aggressive military campaign has resulted to the surrender of 10 core members of the Islamic State-inspired Daulah Islamiya.
A Palace Spokesman said President Rodrigo R. Duterte has met with families of the soldiers killed in the Jan. 27 Jolo bomb attack and an encounter with the Abu Sayyaf in Patikul on Feb. 2.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the private meeting with the families of the six soldiers killed in Jolo and Patikul took place at the Matina Enclaves, Davao City.
“The President condoled with the bereaved families and honored the fallen soldiers for their heroism by awarding them the Order of Lapu Lapu (rank of Kalasag),” Panelo said in a statement.
READ: Prime suspect in Jolo blast, 4 others give up
“He comforted the grieving families and assured them of the government’s assistance in terms of housing, livelihood, employment, and educational assistance, among others,” he added. With PNA