GENERAL SANTOS CITY, (PNA) — Explosive and ordnance operatives safely defused an improvised explosive that was recovered on Sunday night in a gasoline station situated in the city’s downtown area.
Senior Supt. Froilan Quidilla, city police director, said Monday the explosive was found at around 7:50 p.m. Sunday near a fuel dispenser by workers of the Petron service station along the Pedro Acharon Boulevard here.
He said the bomb, which was placed in a plastic bag, was made up of two live 60 mm mortar shells, electrical wires, a blasting cord and a mobile phone as its triggering device.
“It’s fortunate that it was recovered early and immediately disrupted by our EOD (explosives and ordnance disposal) team,” he said.
Filling attendant Joseph Pelaez told reporters that he initially noticed a white plastic bag that was left near one of their fuel dispensers.
He said they previously noticed two unidentified persons walking towards dispenser but separately left after a while.
“I noticed some protruding electrical wires when I checked the plastic bag so I called the attention of our security guard,” Pelaez said.
Duty guard Aaron Mercado said he immediately noticed the bomb-like components inside the plastic bag so he carried it away from the fuel dispenser.
“It was quite heavy — probably around two kilos,” he said.
After placing it in a nearby pathway, the security guard hastily left the area and reported the matter to the city police office.
Insp. Oliver Pauya, head of the city police’s EOD team, described the explosive’s makeup as crude but quite powerful.
He specifically cited the use of mobile phone, which is reportedly the easiest device to produce and assemble as a triggering mechanism for an explosive.
“It could have killed or maimed persons within a 20-meter radius if it exploded,” he said.
Pauya stressed that the security guard should not have touched or moved the bomb after they found it near the fuel dispenser.
“Some explosives are motion-triggered and detonates by slight movement. The standard procedure is to immediately report the matter to the police for proper handling,” he said.
Meantime, Quidilla said the Police Regional Office 12’s crime laboratory unit is now evaluating the makeup of the recovered explosive.
“They’re specifically determining whether its makeup was similar to the bombs that previously exploded in Cagayan de Oro City,” he said.
The official refused to speculate on the identity of the suspects and its possible motive saying they are presently “looking at all angles.”
But Quidilla added they are hoping to get some leads as to the identity of the suspects based on the captured footages of the gas station’s installed closed-circuit television or security cameras.