Thinking Pinoy

Potential Suspects: Who bombed Davao City?

Specifically, I will list down all the potential suspects, based on past news, the probability of
each entity on the list being the actual culprit. Note that this is just a tentative list, but any
investigation needs a starting point, and this is it.
This bears repeating: I will set aside my emotions for now and I will evaluate the list as
objectively as I can. Now, lets tentatively list down the possible suspects.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Duterte administration
The Liberal Party
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
Drug Cartels
The United States
China

This is pretty diverse list, right?

Lets start.
1st Suspect : Duterte Administration
This is the Yellow fan favorite.
Some members of the opposition would expectedly try to pin this incident on Duterte, as it can
be compared to the August 1971 Plaza Miranda Bombing that killed nine and injured 95, mostly
oppositionist Liberal Party supporters [LP]. The Liberal Party blamed then President Ferdinand
Marcos for the incident, alleging that the latter used it to justify the imposition of Martial Law
[MT].
Incidentally, its also the Liberal Party whos in the opposition today. And this is what they would
like us to believe this angle, especially since they are fond of painting Duterte as a
megalomaniacal dictatorial wannabe.
FIRST, Duterte has no thirst for power. Duterte has been offered the DILG post by former
president Ramos, Estrada, Aquino, and Arroyo, and he declined all of them [AC, Inq], despite
his full knowledge that the DILG post is the perfect springboard for running for higher office.
Duterte was also offered to be the 2016 Vice-Presidential running mate of Roxas [GMA] and
Binay [GMA], but he declined. He was continuously pushed to run for president, but he declined
every time, even going as far as saying only an alien abduction of Roxas, Binay, and Poe will
force to make him run [Inq], and it was only a last-minute large-scale, grassroots call for him to
run [GMA] that finally changed his mind.
No, these are not the deeds of someone whos hungry for power.
SECOND, Davao City is Dutertes obra maestra. The man spent thirty years transforming an
economic backwater into a booming cosmopolitan city. With Dutertes leadership, what was
once a killing field in the late 80s turned into a safe and secure city with vibrant economy
[Edge].

At 71, its unlikely that he can leave a legacy more prominent than that, so why would he mess it
up? (Davao City was recognized as the safest city in the country and deserves to be included in
the roster of top safest city in the entire continent of Asia (search for websites to support this
statement) .Therefore why does man who spent his almost entire life to build his masterpiece
and turned it into a doomed and terrorized city in just a blink of an eye? or should I say what evil
spirit that possessed President Duterte to do such foolish move to ruin his very own reputation?)
THIRD, Dutertes family lives in Davao. Why would he bomb a city where his children and
grandchildren live? Why would he turn it into a hell-hole? It does not make sense.
If he really wanted to bomb a city for his alleged political motives, he would have bombed NCR
cities instead. If I were Duterte and I wanted a sequel to the Plaza Miranda bombing. I wouldve
bombed the Araneta Center, where the Liberal Party Headquarters is, But it isnt the case.
So no, Duterte probably didnt do it.
2nd Suspect: The Liberal Party
Many Duterte Die-hard Supporters say the Liberal Party did it. After all, the bombings fit
perfectly into their plan. Despite the lack of evidence [TP: Gascon], the Liberal Party has
managed to convince the international community that Duterte is a megalomaniac. With the
bombing, and assuming that Duterte will declare Martial Law as a result, then LP would have
succeeded in making him look not only megalomaniacal, but also dictatorial.
From the LPs point of view, this also happens to be the perfect diversion. The public has been
feasting on LP Senator Leila de Lima and her alleged drug links, so the LP could have possibly
copied former Senator Juan Ponce Enriles alleged Zamboanga Siege Tactic [Inq].
There is one major issue with this theory, however.
There is no evidence so far that suggests LPs complicity in the Davao City bombing incident. I
am not Leila de Lima, so I do not like accusing without sufficient evidence. Yes, the motives are
there, but motives alone are not enough to prove criminal liability.
LP as a potential suspect? Yes.
LP as the most probable suspect? No, not yet.
3rd Suspect: Abu Sayyaf Group
Prior to the incident, Duterte said the government has received threats from IS-linked terrorist
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) [TP: Video]. The Philippine National Police (PNP) also blamed ASG
for the bombing incident [Aljazeera].
Yesterday, ABS CBN reported that ASG owned up to the Davao blast [ABS]. The problem,
however, is the fact that ABS-CBN failed to include a direct quote from ASGs spokesman
categorically saying that ASG did it. Not surprisingly, CNN reported this morning that ASG
categorically denied ASG alleged involvement in the bombing incident [CNN].
I hate to admit it, but ASGs denial makes some sense. Let me explain why.
FIRST, shrapnel found in the blast site are similar to ones found after the 2003 Sasa wharf and
Davao Airport bombings [Sun Star]. While this may qualify as circumstantial evidence,
improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are relatively low-tech bombs so the technology used in

them is hardly proprietary. That is, even if the ASG can create such an IED, other groups can
create similarly-designed IEDs too.
SECOND, ThinkingPinoy received a PNP internal memo dated 26 August 2016 that warns local
police stations of a possible ASG bomb plot in Davao or Metro Manila. The memo is shown
below:
The memo mentions suicide bombers. However, Davao was bombed using a standalone IED.
That is, the PNP may be talking about a bomb threat thats totally separate from whatever
happened last Friday.
THIRD and most importantly, Abu Sayyaf has never denied involvement with terrorist activities
before.
Terrorists feed on terrifying the populace, so its just logical for them to own up to any
successfully perpetuated terrorists attack. After all, thats just like getting extra street cred for
free. I searched for any page published before 01 September 2016 that contains Abu Sayyaf
denies [Google], and not a single article showed such an ASG denial in the past.
Whats the point? If ASG denied involvement, then it may actually be, at least partially, true.
The Duterte government has already been waging war on ASG for several weeks now, with
Duterte reportedly planning to ramp up troops two days before the bombing incident [WSJ].
If I were the ASG, I would prefer a long protracted guerilla war where troops trickle in, instead of
an all-out government offensive that may overwhelm my terrorist forces. If I were ASG, I can
more manageably resist government forces that way.
What would bombing Davao City do? That may just coax Duterte on going full-force against
ASG, and if thats the last thing ASG wants, and thats exactly what happened when Duterte
announced Saturday- a few hours after the Davao bombing-that he will send 7,000 troops to
eradicate ASG.
While I cannot totally discount ASGs involvement, the latters spokesterrorist actually makes at
least a little sense when he denied the groups involvement.
4th Suspect: Drug Cartels
Regardless of whether youre for or against Dutertes war on drugs, the fact remains that it has
yielded very tangible results, one of which is decreasing profit margins for the drug syndicates [
TP: PH Drug Industry]
Some may argue that bombings is not the style of drug cartels but he US military says otherwise
[US Mil]. (It is most likely that Drug Cartels are now making desperate moves to retaliate on
President Dutertes aggressive campaign against illegal drugs. (Search for websites that show
how a transaction on illegal drugs in the country is being alleviated and its effects on drug
cartels). Drug Cartels in the country would so much be delighted if their ultimate adversary
endures so much pain about the incident knowing the fact that Davao City is President Dutertes
finest home. Diverting the attention must also be one of the reasons, so that the concentration
of eradicating Illegal Drugs will be lessened and be focused further on Terrorism. If this make
any sense be prepared that there will be more bombings to be emerged anywhere in the
country as the campaign on illegal drugs lingers to twist the situation.

Now, Duterte is pretty difficult to assassinate, having survived terrorist-infested Mindanao for
over 70 years. Thus, drug cartels can, at least for now, attempt to destabilize his government by
bombing no less than his h ome town.
This is very interesting angle given that three inmates bolted a North Cotabato prison just two
weaks ago. These inmates were facing charges of illegal possession of explosives and illegal
drugs [Inq].
Three drug dealers who happen to know something about explosives magically escaped prison.
Two weeks later, an IED blast rocks Davao city, home of the president whos in the middle of the
war against drugs.
Go figure.

5th Suspect: Unites States Government

The United States has been very critical of the Duterte Administrations war on drugs, going as
far as insinuating that Duterte has a hand in the vigilante killing that has plagued the latters
government for the past couple of months.
Just last week, its pro-war Ambassador to the UN Sammantha Power tweeted, Alarming
reports of ongoing extrajudicial killings in the Philippines; government must respect the human
rights and rule of law.
Duterte is the first president since God knows when who a neutral stance on the US-China rift.
Since the South China Sea ruling, we have seen how Duterte chronically refused to definitively
side with either. This is a welcome development for China in light of the severely antagonistic
Aquino administration.
But this is alarming for the US, as it has always been used to having Philippine Presidents who
are willing to kiss its ass on command. Vice-president Leni Robredo along with her political
party is very much pro-US, and it would be theoretically more convenient for the Americans to
have Robredo as president instead.
So why not do something to catalyze Dutertes political demise?
The communist New Peoples Army also blame the US for the Davao Bombing, but do not want
to give much credence to them, because the communists love to blame the US for everything.
Beside, many Filipinos would scream, But the US is not a terrorist!
However, an incident from the relatively recent past suggests otherwise.
Michael Terrence Meiring
Meiring , a US citizen, was sharing a hotel room in Davao city with his ammonium nitrate
bomb, which exploded on May 16, 2002. Meiring was severely injured; nevertheless, US
government agents appeared at the hospital and spirited him away, first to Manila and
then to the US [Asia Times].

The Davao City Prosecution Office alleged that Meiring was a terrorist bomber
[MindaNews], but the courts werent able to proceed with the case because Meiring has
already been whisked out of the country by the US government itself before he can be
arraigned.
It was early in the morning when (then-US Amb.) Ricciardone flew here and met with
me in a hotel here. He assured me then that they will conduct and investigation
regarding the Meiring incident. Yet since then, the US government failed to fully explain
to me how come they violated our sovereign right to prosecute Meiring who committed a
crime here in our city, Duterte said in 2011 [Tesiorna].
Basically, in 2002, the US government coddled a terrorist who actually attempted to terrorize
Davao City. So yes, the idea of US involvement in the 2016 Davao City bombing is not farfetched.

6th Suspect: Chinese Government

Another angle would be planted evidence that the opposition oh so gloriously loves to ignore
when its convenient for them. This theory is pretty simple: the Chinese Government bombs
Davao city and make it appears as if the United States did it, thereby titling Dutertes stance on
the Chine-US spat.
The problem with this theory, however, is that its unlikely.
FIRS, because China is not widely-known for state sponsored terrorism. Aside from a CATO
Institute article insinuating otherwise, theres little documented evidence that China actually
does that.
SECOND, because if it backfires, then China is toast. That is, the risk outweigh the benefits. If
China indeed bombed Davao city and local investigators confirm this, then its over for PHChina relations for the foreseeable future, and it may even be used as a justification for a more
decisive Western Military presence in the South China Sea.
Thats something that China doesnt want especially since they see Duterte as a bright spot for
often-strained PH-China ties. I cannot imagine how China can be desperate enough to do it, so
they probably didnt.
Thinking Pinoys Takeaways
These six potential suspects listed in this article are just theories and this article does not, in any
way, definitively blame any of these six. Instead, I wrote this article to help you understand that
the situation is not as simple as De Lima did it!, In as much as I want that woman to burn in
hell, hasty generalizations are not my cup of tea.
So, who do you think did it? [ThinkingPinoy]