InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA (UPDATED 12:33 PM) - Improvised explosive devices were recovered by authorities near the massacre site in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, as local officials led by Maguindanao Governor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu commemorated the second anniversary of the massacre on Wednesday.
Mangudadatu said in a television interview that at least five IEDs were found near the massacre site, where families, friends and colleagues of the victims are marking as w ell the first day of the International Day to End Impunity campaign.
But Director Felicisimo Khu of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao clarified that only two bombs were recovered near the massacre site in Barangay Salman. Another grenade was recovered in the Buluan public market.
Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr., national police spokesman, said the first bomb was recovered at 5:35 a.m. along the national road, Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town, just a few kilometers from the massacre site.
Army explosive ordinance personnel detonated the bomb and no one was hurt.
Minutes later, at around 5:50 a.m., another bomb was recovered a few meters away near the camp of the Moro National Liberation Front in Camp Imam Malang. The bomb consisted of an 81 millimeter mortar round, disintegrated parts of a two-way radio, circuit diagram, battery and blasting caps.
No one was reported hurt in both explosions.
Khu said the IEDs were found just hours before the expected visit of Mangudadatu and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo to the massacre site. Robredo did not cancel his visit. The two officials led the commemoration with the lighting of candles and offering of prayers for his fallen relatives and the slain journalists.
Aside from 32 journalists killed in the massacre, 26 other people were murdered in the massacre, among them Mangudadatu's wife and kin as they were on their way to file Mangudadatu's certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor on November 23, 2009.
In an earlier statement, Robredo expressed "disappointment" over the "slow pace of the proceedings of the case."
“Right now, at least 100 still at-large suspects are roaming various parts of Mindanao and we are doing our best to have them accounted for and pay for their crimes. I have directed all local executives in Mindanao to help us find them and include them in the government’s 'all-out justice' campaign in the region,” he said.
Robredo said he intends to meet with journalists and Ampatuan massacre victims’ families, including members of the various local and media organizations and give them updates about the case and the government’s plan to help in the early prosecution of the suspects.
