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ZAMBOANGA CITY—Explosive Ordinance Demolition (EOD)
personnel of the Zamboanga City Police Office foiled a
bomb attack by defusing the bomb while the bomber was
trying to set if off on Saturday near the office of this
city’s power distributor.
The
cellular phone-triggered homemade bomb was the second
recovered and defused by the EOD policemen in just 24
hours in this city.
The
responding EOD team led by the post- blast investigator
and supervisor, Senior Police Officer (SPO) 4 Reynaldo
Resuento, noticed that the cellular phone registered
four missed calls, most likely coming from the bomber,
who was trying to trigger the explosive while they were
defusing the bomb.
Resuento
said the bomb was discovered by Peregrino Perez, the
owner of a store situated across the main gate of the
Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) in
barangay Putik, east of this city.
Aside
from the office, the power substation that supplies
electricity to a large portion of this city, including
the commercial district in downtown Zamboanga, was
located in that compound.
Perez
told the police he was cleaning the surroundings of his
store around 6 a.m. Saturday when he noticed a black
plastic bag left under a table.
Perez
said he noticed a cellular phone stuck to an 800-gram
milk can after picking up the bag.
Perez
said he ran to Zamcelco’s main gate and reported his
find to the guard, who, in turn, called the police.
SPO2
Marcelino Herbano, a postblast investigator and member
of the team, said the homemade bomb was made of
explosive powder packed in an 800-gram milk can as the
main charge, with a cellular phone as the triggering
device.
Herbano
said it is powered by a nine-volt battery with attached
two pieces of nonelectric blasting caps, electronic
parts, two Christmas bulbs, nine-volt battery cap one
pilot bulb and one-half kilo finishing nails as
shrapnel.
Resuento
said the team was lucky to defuse the bomb timely, thus
preventing the bomber from setting off the explosive.
Last
Saturday’s recovery of the bomb was the second that was
recovered in just 24 hours.
On
Friday morning, the EOD policemen also recovered and
defused two homemade bombs planted on a cargo truck that
transports soft-drink products to the provinces from
this city.
This
city police commander, Senior Supt. Lurimer Detran, has
ordered his personnel to be on alert against bombers who
could still be within the city, scouting for targets.
On May
29, two people were killed while 21 others were injured
when a powerful bomb exploded outside Col. Edwin Andrews
Air Base that houses the 3rd Air Division headquarters
in this city. |
