Cop wounded in Zamboanga bombings praised for heroism

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A cop who was wounded in recent bombings in the southern Filipino port city of Zamboanga is recuperating after he sustained shrapnel wounds from the blast inside a karaoke bar and police praised his heroism for risking his life to save others, officials said Wednesday.

Officials said PO2 Franklin Manuel Ined, Sr. was rushed to the hospital after one of two homemade bombs exploded near him while inspecting a suspicious package left inside the Deluxe Massage and Karaoke Bar at Tomas Claudio Street. Two explosions were reported in the first and second floors of the bar.

Police forensic experts recovered pieces of electrical wiring, a broken dry cell and shrapnel and broken parts of the bombs and that traces of ammonium nitrate were also found at the scene.

The November 9 blasts occurred just as security forces deployed more personnel to guard some 7,500 scouters who were attending Centennial Jamboree in Zamboanga City.

Heroism

Police have praised the heroism of Ined, a member of the Zamboanga City Public Safety Company, who is a K9 dog handler.

“PO2 Ined, who sustained multiple shrapnel wounds on the different parts of his body, is now in stable condition,” said Inspector Dahlan Samuddin, the regional police spokesman.

He said Ined, unmindful of the dangers and hazards of his job, put his own life at risk to protect and save others. And so were other members of the bomb squad who quickly responded to an emergency call.

Samuddin said a worker at the bar phoned the police about the suspicious boxes left there. He said the quick response of the local police personnel to the incident prevented further damage and injuries.

He said Chief Superintendent Edgar Basbas, the regional police commander, assured that Ined will get full medical assistance and the police would also shoulder all other expenses incurred during his confinement.

“The Police Regional Office 9 urges the public to continuously support the authorities by providing timely and relevant information, particularly those that concerns about public and safety of the region,” Samuddin said.

Police also released the facial composite of the alleged bomber based on the description of several witnesses. The mayor of Zamboanga, Maria Isabelle Salazar, has offered a P50,000 reward to anyone who can provide information leading to the apprehension of the bomber.

Abu Sayyaf

The military’s Western Mindanao Command has tagged the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Puruji Indama as behind the latest twin bombings, who was also linked to similar attacks in nearby Basilan, one of five provinces under the restive Muslim autonomous region.

Marine Captain Maria Rowena Muyuela, a military spokeswoman, said troops assaulted Indama’s bomb factory in Basilan’s Tipo-Tipo town, but there were no reports of enemy casualties.

Last month, police bomb squad also disrupted an improvised explosive abandoned at the Plaza Pershing also in downtown Zamboanga. The explosive was hidden in a thermos that contained nails and ammonium nitrate, a banned chemical fertilizer widely used by Abu Sayyaf rebels in the manufacture of homemade bombs.

The Abu Sayyaf, blamed by authorities to the spate of bombings and killings in the southern Philippines, has recently pledged allegiance to the jihadist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. (Mindanao Examiner)