If Akbar was the target, why did the assassins need to use a bomb, then detonate it inside the House premises, and not pull the assassination with the use of firearms elsewhere? Planting the bomb at Congress could signify a bigger political message.

BY THE POLICY STUDIES, PUBLICATION AND ADVOCACY PROGRAM
CENTER FOR PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT IN GOVERNANCE
Posted by Bulatlat
Analysis
Vol. VII, No. 41, November 18-24, 2007

The bomb that exploded at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on Nov. 13 killed four people, including a congressman, and wounded at least 11 others. The explosion was powerful that it ripped through the south wing of the Batasan building and destroyed vehicles that were parked. Investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said that the bomb was an anti-vehicle device. As any ordnance expert would know, that type of bomb is military-issued.

With the explosion taking place at the same time that two impeachment charges were pending at the House while in the Senate investigations are ongoing on the latest strings of scandals and bribery involving President Gloria M. Arroyo, speculations were inevitably raised – not without basis – that it was politically-motivated. The presidential office has been trying to squelch such allegations, with its own theory that the bomb had a specific target – Basilan Rep. Wahar Akbar, who died in the blast, adding that in fact two weeks ahead of the incident they had information of death threats against him. Why the government was unable to prevent his killing – despite its intelligence agencies and huge resources – is beyond speculation. If Akbar was the target, why did the assassins need to use a bomb, then detonate it inside the House premises, and not pull the assassination with the use of firearms elsewhere? Planting the bomb at Congress could signify a bigger political message.

Still, one cannot rule out the possibility that an outspoken anti-Arroyo critic and activist, Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) Rep. Luz Ilagan, could have been a target. Ilagan, just several hours earlier, joined her colleagues in the progressive bloc in initiating impeachment charges against the President – the third in three years. This is one of the plausible angles that should be looked into, considering that her political party has suffered violent attacks perpetrated by state security forces, with their own members among the 890 victims of extra-judicial killings and other state terrorist acts since 2001.

A probe into this particular angle is also warranted in the light of the probable political motives behind the Glorietta bombing, where 11 persons died and nearly a hundred others were wounded; the ambush of a top Comelec lawyer; and the threats of assassination against the progressive members of Congress, including senators and House Speaker Jose de Venecia. All these have happened in a period of three weeks, with two high-profile institutional targets hit – Glorietta, at the country’s prime financial district in Ayala; and the Batasan building.

Congress

Congress as a target of bombing is without precedent, ever since its predecessor, Philippine Assembly, was established a century ago. The closest that comes to mind as being a high-value target was the Quezon City Hall housing the Constitutional Convention in 1972. The bomb, planted inside a bathroom, went off amid a payola incident involving then President Ferdinand E. Marcos and pro-administration delegates. A few months later, Defense Secretary now Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile would fake his assassination and blame it on the Left. Within 24 hours, martial law was declared and Congress was shut.

The takeover of the Batasan security and of the bombing probe by the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) is only meant to bolster the Palace’s theory about Akbar being the specific target of assassination. In charge of the PNP is Director-General Avelino Razon, who used to head Task Force Usig which was charged pro forma with investigating cases of extra-judicial executions. Razon’s theory that the politically-motivated killings were part of the Leftist purge did not hold water as far as the UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, the Commission on Human Rights and even the Supreme Court, were concerned. Razon’s first major job as PNP chief was to direct the investigation of the Glorietta bombing. His probe pointed incredibly to a leaked methane gas as the culprit even if other investigators said it was a military C-4 that did it. No further investigation. Now, if Razon, as Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno had hinted, had known about death threats against Akbar should not he be sacked for incompetence by allowing the explosion to happen that proved fatal to the congressman?

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