Piñol blames MILF for foiled Kidapawan attack

By MIKE PUNONGBAYAN
TODAY Correspondent

A bomb squad detonated a powerful bomb on Wednesday believed to have been planted by Muslim guerrillas outside a church-run radio station a few hours before North Cotabato Gov. Manuel Piñol arrived at the station in Kidapawan City, officials said.

The bomb, made from three 81-mm mortar shells, was found in a flower pot at radio station dxnd’s compound in Kidapawan City a few hours before Piñol arrived there for a radio program, police said.

Piñol is an extremely vocal critic of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main Muslim separatist group, and has urged the government to crush the guerrillas through military assaults rather than pursue peace talks.

The governor and police investigators suspect the MILF planted the device.

The bomb was discovered around 9 a.m. three hours before Piñol’s public-service program in the station.

Police said the device was placed inside a bag, which was left two meters away from the radio station booth.

Piñol tagged the MILF for planting the bomb, saying that he does not have no political enemies that would kill him.

“There is no group who would be a threat to my life other than the MILF rebels. They are my only suspects,” Piñol said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied his group was involved, saying the guerrillas were strictly observing a unilateral 10-day cease-fire that started on Monday despite ongoing military assaults against rebel strongholds.

The bomb, which was placed in a bag, was found by a radio station staffer, who called the police.

It would have been powerful enough to destroy the one-story concrete radio station building, said Kidapawan police chief Alexander Tagum.

The bomb was detonated in a controlled explosion near the radio station.

Despite the incident, Piñol went on air and blamed the MILF for trying to kill him.

He said that he has received a flurry of information in the past two weeks that the rebels were planning to attack him with bombs.

Kidapawan has been hit by deadly bombings in the past which were blamed on extortion gangs and Muslim guerrillas.

The city is located in the southwestern foothills of Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak. Apart from the MILF, communist rebels also have a presence there.

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. Wednesday proposed that Malacañang mobilize “all efforts,” and employ “strategic diplomatic and political support” from Malaysia and the influential Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to finalize a final peace agreement with the MILF within the next three months.

“We are drawing up a road map to peace, and all the best suggestions on how to do this will be included,” de Venecia told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) forum at the Mandarin Hotel.

De Venecia said that these efforts include the offer of the United States government to broker a peace pact with the MILF, as well as parallel moves by Kuala Lumpur and the OIC to put an end to the secessionist problem in Mindanao.

He stressed that despite recent battles with MILF guerrillas in Central Mindanao that jeopardized the scheduled peace negotiations being brokered by Malaysia, the government’s mood is still for the pursuit of peace negotiations.

“We should finalize a peace agreement with the MILF within 90 days by determined political will,” de Venecia said.

He said the government is open to Washington’s offer of diplomatic and financial assistance to put forward a peaceful solution to the MILF problem.

De Venecia said the Lakas national directorate has approved a resolution backing the peace process and seeking the completion of peace negotiations with the MILF and the communist National Democratic Front (NDF) to bring about a lasting political settlement of the two insurgencies.

He stressed, however, that the MILF should do its part by being sincere in talking peace with the government. He called on the rebels to “totally and completely stop” the fighting in Mindanao as a principal confidence-building measure to resume negotiations, with the combined strategic political support from leaders of Malaysia, Libya and the OIC.

“Fighting must stop totally and completely. We have to restrain both sides. This is the principal confidence-building measure so that we can bring back the refugees and begin the peace negotiations,” de Venecia said.

He said the government is prepared to offer unconditional amnesty and jobs, hospitals, schools, agricultural land and clean water to the MILF guerrillas. Some P10 billion has been inserted in this year’s national budget to support the peace agreements with the MILF and NDF. With AP, J. Cadacio, K. Bacongco