PNP probes surge in bomb threats circulating via email
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday acknowledged there was a failure of intelligence in the blast that killed four people at the Mindanao State University (MSU), while the police investigate a rash of bomb threats circulating through email.
“If something happens, usually we cannot catch everything,” AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar told GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita. “So in a way, it seems yes, there is a failure. But whether the personnel have accountability over this, we will have to investigate.”
On Sunday, an explosion rocked the Dimaporo Gymnasium in MSU in Marawi City in the middle of a Mass service, killing four people and wounding dozens.
Senator Ronald Dela Rosa on Monday raised the possibility of a failure of intelligence in the blast.
“There may be a failure of intelligence because they were not able to monitor that there will be a bombing, right? If they were able to monitor it, there was still a failure to act on the intelligence,” Dela Rosa said in an interview.
But the senator said it would be “very unfair” if security forces are held accountable for something that is “below the radar.”
AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said the military received intelligence information that the bombing could have been a retaliatory attack from the Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) extremist group, after four of its members were killed in a military operation in Maguindanao del Sur on Friday.
Two alleged members of DI-Maute Group identified as Kadapi Mimbesa or “Engineer” and Arsani Membesa or “Khatab” have been named as suspects in the explosion.
Mimbesa is an MSU student, who has just graduated.
He is said to be an expert in making improvised explosive devices, while Alias Khatab is wanted for murder.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) said both suspects were involved in previous attacks.
Aguilar said the possible reconnection of the Maute group with the foreign extremist group Islamic State should be investigated after the latter claimed responsibility for the bomb attack.
Meanwhile, the PNP appealed to the public to be wary of suspicious emails after it monitored a number of bomb threats following Sunday’s deadly bombing at the MSU.
“The other day we recorded a series of bomb threats and that was immediately responded to by the PNP and we are begging our countrymen to be careful with the emails they receive because these bomb threats are being dealt with through the email,” PNP acting Public Information Office chief, Col. Jean Fajardo said.
The Anti-Cybercrime Group said most of the circulating emails originated from outside the country, she said in a televised briefing.
“Especially this email that is said to be from a Takehiro Karasawa who is said to be a Japanese lawyer, it is fake and in fact in September and October, we have monitored through our cyber patrolling that the email is going around and over and over again This is not only limited to the Philippines, there is also this same email content in South Korea, Taiwan, and China,” Fajardo said.
“Our PNP Anti-Cybercrime group is contacting our foreign counterparts to trace the origin of this email,” the official added.
As Christmas approaches, the PNP will maintain “maximum police presence” in places of worship, transportation hubs, major thoroughfare, and other crowded areas, Fajardo said.
Leaves after Dec. 15 will be suspended so that the PNP will have enough personnel to deploy, she added.
In the wake of the MSU attack, the AFP emphasized the need to upgrade its intelligence capabilities.
Aguilar said these upgrades are needed to ensure that all possible threats can be covered and dealt with accordingly.
Aguilar also said they are looking at reports that the Dec. 3 bombing might be connected to the 2017 Marawi siege.
“It’s possible that those involved in this latest bombing in MSU are connected to those involved in the Marawi attack. In fact, the two suspects identified are remnants of the DI-Maute Group,” he said in Filipino.
Aguilar said they are not ruling out the possibility that the two suspects have links to foreign terrorists.
Also on Thursday, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona said the recent bomb attack may cause a bit of concern for the Philippines’ effort to exit the grey list of the global dirty money watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
“The problem is the Marawi bombing. It makes them [FATF] more demanding, because they are trying to crack down on terrorist financing. So the bombing implies there was some terrorist financing [in the Philippines],” Remolona said Wednesday evening.
“But the other side of the story is, the bombing was in retaliation for our being more strict on terrorist financing. So we can say that it shows that we’re trying harder,” he said.
In October 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the Philippines to intensify its efforts to be taken out of the gray list.
The IMF sees the need for the Philippines to ramp up initiatives to strengthen its anti-money laundering measures and to combat the financing of terrorism.
Remolona said local authorities were doing everything they can to show that the country is making progress in all those areas of concern.