Following two large explosions in the area Monday evening, the entire city of Isabela in Basilan province was placed on red alert.
According to Cedric Castillo’s account on “24 Oras,” the first bomb occurred after 5 p.m. on May 30 in the parking lot of a fast-food establishment in Isabela City proper.
The Western Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) received CCTV footage of the incident but declined to release any other information.
“Ang initial finding na ini-report sa amin, although we expect na magkaroon ng progress report ngayong hapon, faulty wiring. Pero we are digging deeper doon sa investigation,” said AFP Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr.
(The initial finding reported to us, although we expect to have a progress report this afternoon, is faulty wiring. But we are digging deeper there in the investigation.)
Meanwhile, the second event occurred less than a kilometer away from the first bomb location, near a bus company’s garage.
The second explosion, which was allegedly caused by a box left inside the business, caused damage to many parked cars as well as a nearby store. The on-duty security guard was also hurt.
Isabela City in Basilan placed under red alert after two explosions
“‘Yung apat na bus jan, eh lima, dito ‘yan gumagarahe sa Isabela. ‘Yung tatlo, sa Lamitan. Ang sabi ng konduktor, may naiwan na karga. Babalikan lang ‘yan ng may-ari pero hindi namin alam na bumalik…Palaging may padala dito mga cake, mga kung ano-ano dyan,” victim Christopher Pasaol said.
(The four buses, five, are parked here in Isabela. The three, in Lamitan. The conductor said, there is cargo left. The owner will just come back but we don’t know if he will come back… There are always cakes sent here, things like that.)
The perpetrators of the twin explosions have yet to be identified, but according to the AFP, the blasts may be “isolated cases.”
Earlier, a bus exploded while passing through Koronadal City. The terrorist group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters was blamed for the explosion (BIFF).
The AFP, for its part, claimed there was no link between the latest explosions.
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