3 suspects in Cotabato bombing arrested

Three persons believed to have carried out the Monday bombing here which left eight people dead and more than 30 others wounded have been arrested and undergoing interrogation by police authorities, Mayor Japal Guiani Jr said on Tuesday.

Guiani refused to identify the three male persons captured on close circuit TV cameras (CCTV) of one of the business establishments near the blast site along Sinsuat Avenue, Cotabato City.

He said the suspects are now in the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

The mayor who claimed he and his sister lawyer Cynthia Guiani Sayadi were the target of the car bomb attack said police authorities are in possession of documents containing conversations, calls and text messages of personalities who have planned and carried out the bomb attack and previous violent incidents in the city.

The mayor said he would make public the personalities behind the bomb attack once charges had been filed against them.

Earlier, he hinted that the attack could be a retaliation on his administration's campaign against illegal drugs.

Sr. Supt. Rolen Balquin, city police director, said drugs was one of the many angles police investigators were looking into, including politics and terrorism.

But Balquin said the attack was more of a personal vendetta by those affected by the implementation of law and order in the city.

Guiani, since becoming the city's chief executive, had been receiving death threats when he started cleansing the city government with misfits.

The most recent was his directive, and carried by his sister Guiani-Sayadi, to clear the tributaries and water ways in the city clogged by informal settlers.

Illegal structures in canals and tributaries criss-crossing the city contributed to the frequent floods that displaced thousands of families in low-lying barangays.

Since 2002, five car bomb attacks had been carried out in Maguindanao and Region 12 which is composed of North and South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and the cities of Cotabato, Kidapawan, Tacurong, Koronadal and Gen. Santos.

In June 2002, a tricycle loaded with explosives was set off in Datu Piang, Maguindanao that killed then Datu Piang Mayor Saudi Ampatuan, son of former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

In 2003, a car bomb was set off near the terminal of Cotabato airport which left two killed and more than 20 others wounded.

In 2005, a car bomb was set off in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao while Ampatuan Sr and his convoy were passing by in Shariff Aguak town. The blast left eight persons dead.

The most recent before last Monday's blast was the car bomb set off in Tacurong City targeting Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu's convoy.

The bomb attack left provincial board member Russman Sinsuat and a bystander killed. (PNA)