Police find, detonate IED near US Embassy
Police on Monday found an improvised explosive device (IED) fashioned out of an 81 millimeter mortar round near the United States Embassy in Ermita, Manila on Monday.
A street sweeper first found the bomb at 6:50 pm in a trash can along the south bound lane of Roxas Boulevard . The object was placed in a yellow sack with a 9-volt battery, blasting cap and a cellular phone.
The bomb could have killed and injured people within a 100-meter radius had it not been diffused by a police bomb squad, police said.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald Dela Rosa, quoting a witness, said an unidentified man alighted from a taxicab sometime early Monday and threw the package in the trash can.
"It's proximity is about 100 to 150 meters away from the US Embassy so the purpose is probably to scare people," said Dela Rosa in a news briefing aired over dzBB radio.
The bomb, which is similar to the bomb used in attack in a night market in Davao City last September which killed at least 15 people, may have originated from the Maute Brothers Group, a Mindanao-based terror organization supportive of the Islamic State.
This could be a diversion of the Maute group to ease military operations against them in Lanao del Sur where some members have occupied parts of Butig municipality.
"The Maute group is now experiencing casualties in Lanao.. We can theorize its a diversion," Dela Rosa said.
Asked how can the terrorists stage an attack while they are in Mindanao, Dela Rosa made a comparison to the deadly 9/11 attack in New York that left thousands dead.
"If they are determined to conduct terrorism they can do it. Even at the hear of the US like what happened in 9/11," he said.
Brigadier General Restituto Padilla, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines , told reporters in a separate briefing the bomb signature “may be similar to the bomb used by the Maute (Brothers) Group.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, in a text message to reporters, said opposition lawmakers “may be reading too much into the situation” after they said the discovery of the bomb and the Maute Group “may be laying a foundation for the suspension of the write of habeas corpus.”
Dela Rosa became agitated when he was asked to comment on insinuations it was the government responsible and using it to declare Martial Law.
"For God's sake we will not use an incident that will cause panic, fear and undue arm to its own people it do declare Martial Law. What if our children were the ones hit?...Don't just insinuate the government did this, " he said.
A police bomb squad destroyed the device using water disruption technique past 8 am. During the inspection, a portion of Roxas Boulevard and TM Kalaw Avenue about 500 meters away were closed to traffic.
Senior Superintendent Joel Coronel, Manila police chief, declared the are safe at 8:50 am. The roads were opened at 8:53 am.
Police are coordinating with the US Embassy and other nearby establishments for footage of closed-circuit television cameras for possible leads on the suspect's identity. Emmanuel Tupas, Celerina Monte, Robina Asido/DMS
