Press Release
October 23, 2007

KIKO TO PNP AT THE NSA MEETING: GIVE THE PUBLIC
A NO-NONSENSE REPORT ON GLORIETTA 2 BLAST!

Senate Majority Leader Kiko Pangilinan today pressed the Philippine National Police at the National Security Council for a clear and credible report on the Glorietta 2 blast, following a series of contradictory statements from crime investigators as to the cause of Friday's explosion that has so far killed at least 11 people.

"The public deserves a no-nonsense, clear cut explanation on the bombing angle, without which the credibility of the findings will be placed in doubt," Kiko said.

Earlier, PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon suggested the explosion was set off by a bomb after the PNP Laboratory Chemistry Division allegedly found traces of research development explosive (RDX) on the blast site.

NCRPO Chief Gerry Barias today, however, cast doubt on the bombing angle after investigators failed to find bomb residues in the site, saying the Glorietta blast was more likely caused by an accident. Razon likewise reported this at the National Security Council meeting headed by President Gloria Arroyo, but said the PNP is still open to the possibility that it was a terror attack.

Aside from some top level cabinet officials, House Speaker Jose de Venecia attended the meeting where Kiko pressed the probers to explain the seeming inconsistency in the initial findings and the current progress of the investigation.

"First they presented the bomb theory, now they are saying that it may have been an accident. I likewise asked whether or not a secondary, less lethal explosion triggered by a bomb may have led to a larger gas explosion in the basement, and the probers said this is possible but the evidence does not support it. The acceptability of the PNP's findings, therefore, hinges in part on the clarification of the RDX issue. Was there a bomb that went off or not?" asked Kiko.

Since last Friday, Kiko had been warning authorities from making premature statements on the Glorietta blast, "because the public is strained by the incident and making speculations would only aggravate the confusion of our people."

"However, too many different opinions from too many sources came out, and the public is now left wondering who to believe. At the very least, the leadership of the PNP must once and for all issue a consistent, credible and conclusive report on this incident," Kiko said.

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