Press Release
December 12, 2014

Pimentel condemns bomb blast; urges
authorities to step up intelligence work

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III today condemned those responsible for the bus bomb attack that killed 11 people, mostly students, and wounded 42 more, describing the Bukidnon tragedy late Tuesday as a big black eye in determined efforts to promote lasting peace in Mindanao.

Pimentel, who hails from Cagayan de Oro City where the ill-fated Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. (RTMI) bus was bound on Tuesday, urged authorities to exert extra efforts to arrest the perpetrators of the bomb blast which the military said could be the handiwork of terrorists.

He asked authorities to dig deeper to determine the mastermind of the powerful explosion which government probers believed could also be the work of extortionists as another RTMI bus was bombed last Nov. 6 that wounded four passengers in the same town of Maramag.

Pimentel said investigators should explore all possibilities in the light of intelligence reports that the improvised explosive device (IED) used in the bombing is similar to those traced to a Jemaah Islamiyah trained bomb expert tagged in a string of explosions in Mindanao.

He said the police and military should step up their intelligence drive to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future, especially now that a new peace deal is about to take place permanently with the birth of the Bangsamoro autonomous region.

Pimentel said Congress is rushing the approval of the draft Bangsamoro law so that it could be presented in a plebiscite to electorates in places covered by the proposed autonomous region to pave the way for the establishment of the Bangsamoro.

The Bangsamoro, he said, is a realization of years of struggle and dialogues to end decades of suffering and poverty in a region that is rich in natural resources that could be easily used to stimulate fast economic growth and establish enduring peace.

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