DAVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has offered a P2-million bounty for the perpetrators of the bomb attack that killed 15 people and wounded 70 others in a night market here on Friday.
Duterte said there was a P1-million reward waiting for the person who can identify the suspects and specify their whereabouts, and another P1 million for anyone who can arrest them and bring them to the police.
Duterte emphasized that she wants the suspects to be arrested alive so that he or she can reveal their cohorts.
“We want him alive because we want to talk to him,” the mayor said. She added that they hoped to learn who the bomber’s accomplices were, what group they belonged to, what other attacks were being planned, and why they attacked the night market.
She said other agencies and people have offered to add to the bounty to speed up the arrests.
At the same time, the mayor relieved the chief of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), Sr. Supt. Michael John Dubria and Task Force Davao Commander Col. Henry Robinson.
She said that although she was confident in their capabilities, their relief was a natural consequence of Friday’s bloody attack.
“I’ve already talked to the higher ranks of the PNP and AFP and I told them that I want new people and new ideas,” she added.
Robinson assumed the post only last May, while Dubria was designated city police chief in June.
The mayor said she is not blaming Robinson or Dubria for the bomb attack.
“It’s not about their qualifications, it’s about me… I took what happened personally. There will be strained relationship between us if they continue to stay in their posts,” she said.
Duterte also appointed a new Public Safety Security and Command Center (PSSCC) chief, Ret. Gen. Benito de Leon from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, following the incident.
The mayor announced the rewards Monday morning after she visited the wake of one of the victims, 27-year-old Kristia Gaile Bisnon. Bisnon once served as her private nurse.
“She was very dedicated to her work as a nurse,” she said. “Even when there was nothing to do, she would choose to stay awake and watch over me. She knew my needs, and always made sure that everything was taken care of. I did not need to tell her what to do.”
The mayor, who spoke with Bisnon’s mother, said she was shocked upon learning that Kristia was among the victims.
On Saturday, she led a memorial for the victims.
“I am sorry for what happened,” she said, but added that the people of Davao should not be terrorized by the bombing.
“We will not be terrorized by this heinous crime and I call on all Dabawenyos to unite and let us help each other rise from this senseless incident,” she said.
She said this as she recognized that the real intent of the bomb explosion was to kill many people.
“It was meant to kill,” she said. “It was an explosive. It was clearly an act of terrorism.”
With the families of the victims in grief following the loss of their loved ones, she said President Duterte instructed her to extend additional assistance to those who suffered from the attack.
Sara said the city government has also shouldered the hospitalization, funeral and burial expenses of the victims.
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police still cannot make a definitive conclusion on who was really responsible for the bombing.
But PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa said they are not discounting the possibility of collusion between the terrorists and the drug lords who are now the targets of a nationwide anti-drug war.
“The angle that we are also looking at is narco-terrorism. We are not discounting that,” Dela Rosa said in a press briefing Monday.
Dela Rosa said investigators have established the physical profile of one of the suspects based on the cartographic sketch obtained from the witnesses and footages from CCTV cameras.
He suggested that drug lords affected by the anti-drug war may have financed the Abu Sayyaf Group to do the bombing.
“These Abu Sayyaf, they kidnap people for money. They can also bomb people for money. It’s all about money,” Dela Rosa said. “So if I were a big-time drug lord I can pay the Abu Sayyaf to conduct bombing without having to kidnap people. After all, these are terrorist, they are after terrorism.”
On the other hand, Dela Rosa said they are not only focused at drug lords detained at the New Bilibid Prison but also those from “outside.”
“There might be connections between people in the Bilibid and the Abu Sayyaf, not only from the Bilibid but also from the outside,” Dela Rosa said.
Shortly after the blast, the ASG through its spokesman Abu Rami claimed responsibility for the attack but later retracted and pointed to an allied group Daulat uI-Islamiya as the culprit.
But Dela Rosa stressed that the ASG remained as one of the groups being considered as responsible in the attack.
“We suspect that they did it to ease the tension of the ongoing military and police operations against them,” said Dela Rosa.
Dela Rosa revealed some good developments in the investigations of the bombing as elements of Explosive and Ordnance Disposal are still reconstructing the fragments of the Improvised Explosive Device from a .60mm mortar ammunition that was detonated by a celluar phone.
“We have identified persons of interest. We have artist sketches and slowly we are reconstructing the IED used in the explosion,” said Dela Rosa, stressing the police only have the “physical profile” of the possible perpetrators but not their legal identity.
“We have very good developments. I cannot divulge them yet because there is ongoing investigation, but one has beard and seen left the package before the blast,” he added.
Dela Rosa assured the public that the declaration of lawless violence in the country arising from the deadly explosion in Davao City will not violate people’s human rights after various sectors raised concerns over Duterte’s declaration.
“There are those who are saying that this can be prelude towards declaration of martial law. These people are thinking so advanced. Our people are hurting. We are grieving. We are in pain, and they add insinuations like Martial Law,” said Dela Rosa.
“We have to unite and fight this terror. We should not be divisive, don’t say it’s politicking, that it is Martial Law. The President will not do that. Never,” he stressed.
Security forces have intensified combat operations against the ASG in Sulu and Basilan provinces in compliance to the order of Duterte to destroy the terrorist group following the beheading of hostage Patrick Almodovar two weeks ago.
A naval blockade has been in force in Sulu waters, a moved by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to prevent the notorious bandit groups from escaping and blending in the civilian populace.
The Philippine Navy vessels were deployed in Sulu waters patrolling potential escape routes of the terrorist.