PNP News Releases 2005

NPA HAND SEEN IN METRO SHOOTING, BLASTS

The communist New People’s Army had a hand in the drive-by shooting at the Makati City office of Atty. Mike Arroyo and the three incidents of explosion in Metro Manila last Wednesday, the PNP today said.

Police investigators are putting together several pieces of evidence gathered from four separate crime scenes in Makati, Parañaque, Quezon City and Caloocan.

PNP Chief, Director General Arturo C Lomibao today directed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and the Philippine Bomb Data Center to examine the distinct characteristics of the explosives used in yesterday’s incidents.

A careful examination of the type of chemicals and materials used in rigging the improvised explosive devices may provide good leads to investigators.

“What we want to determine here is the signature or the peculiar design of the IEDs that we can match with known bomb signatures in our database,” Lomibao said.

The PNP Chief said that based on historical records of related incidents, the CPP/NPA has been known to employ patently similar modes of attack on soft targets like in previous hostile actions carried out by urban terrorists on the Shell and Caltex offices in Makati City.

This possibility, Lomibao said, is further bolstered by “inside information” gathered by the PNP from its sources.

“It should be noted that the CPP/NPA has stepped-up its terrorist activities over the past 60 days in different parts of the country,” Lomibao said.

“Quite obviously, the motive is to destabilize government by spoiling the economic opportunities gained during the Philippines’ hosting of the just concluded 23rd SEA Games,” the PNP Chief said.

He downplayed claims made yesterday by a self-styled shadowy group owning responsibility for the attack at the LTA Building owned by the family of Atty. Mike Arroyo.

“Anybody can make such vague claims,” Lomibao said.