ZAMBOANGA CITY – Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco has offered a P200,000 reward for the capture of a bomber behind Friday’s deadly attack on a bus that also left 33 people wounded.
Climaco, who condemned the bombing, said investigation is still ongoing and said a failed extortion was likely the motive of the attack that killed 14-year old Fatima Imbriada.
The bombing, Climaco said, is “an act of act of injustice to innocent civilians.”
She also renewed her call on bus companies to strictly enforce inspection of bags of passengers to prevent future attacks. “We call on all bus companies and all other public conveyance to strictly enforce inspection and other security measures. The City Government is offering P200,000 reward for the capture of the bomber,” she said.
Many of the wounded victims have returned to their homes, although several remain in the hospital because of serious injuries. Climaco said the local government provided all assistance to the victims.
Police said the bomb explosion ripped through the bus, owned by Biel Transit, at a terminal in downtown Zamboanga at around 2.15 p.m. The bus just came from the village of Labuan.
No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities were looking at the Abu Sayyaf as behind the attack just several blocks away from the police headquarters.
It was the second time that the bus firm had been bombed.
In September 2013, one of its buses was also bombed at a terminal in Labuan village and killed three people. The improvised explosive was planted under a seat and then detonated as the bus enters the terminal from a daylong trip shuttling villagers to downtown Zamboanga.
The notorious rebel group had previously bombed civilian targets in Zamboanga City over the last decade with deadly results. The Abu Sayyaf has been fighting for a separate Muslim state, but resorted to terrorism and ransom kidnappings to finance its violent campaign in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
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