INQUIRER FILES

PAGADIAN CITY, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR – The political couple Gov. Victor Yu of Zamboanga del Sur and his wife Rep. Divina Grace Yu of the first district in this province claimed they were the targets of the September 17 explosion in Tukuran town and had asked the country’s Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) to designate as “terrorists” two town mayors whose names were allegedly linked to the blast.

According to the Yus, who led the discussion during the emergency meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) on Saturday, they have witnesses who told them they were the targets of the explosion.

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READ: ATC: sole authority to designate groups, individuals as ‘terrorists’

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Governor Yu said the two persons who died on the spot during the explosion were connected to two town mayors in Zamboanga del Sur. One of those who died was a certain Butch Dumanjug, who turned out to be the cousin of Mayor Charlotte Dumanjug-Panal of Tambulig town; while the other one was a certain ‘Abdul’ who worked for Labangan Mayor Eduardo Relacion.

Yu also said that a white Fortuner vehicle captured by the closed circuit televisions (CCTV) near the blast site and whose plate number was found in the area was identified to be owned by the late Mayor David Navarro of Clarin, Misamis Occidental, whose wife Elsa was Panal’s close friend.

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He claimed that the same vehicle was also seen being used by Panal before the incident. According to the Zamboanga del Sur governor, Panal’s link to the incident was “very strong,” and that both Panal and Relacion had “connection to the incident.”

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But Panal in an interview on Sunday slammed the accusations by the Yu couple. She also called it a “trial by publicity and with political colors.”

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She also called on the Philippine National Police (PNP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to do something about it since their ongoing investigation was being preempted.

“This is a serious allegation and what they’re saying is libelous,” Panal said, adding that she already talked with her lawyer to file a case against the Yu couple.

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“Although the Supreme Court said we, politicians, should not be onion-skinned, this this is a different story, a very serious allegation,” Panal said.

“This is not an ordinary case, the people should know,” Governor Yu said. “With existing evidence, the advice was to request the Anti Terrorism Council to designate them as ‘terrorists’ to speed up the conduct of investigation at the national level,” he added, still referring to the mayors. He said they were going to ask the Anti Terrorism Council (ATC) on Monday to convene to make such a declaration.

The September 17 explosion happened while the province was celebrating its 72nd founding anniversary, with lots of activities attended by government officials, uniformed personnel and locals. The Yu couple were already home in Pagadian city when the bomb exploded in Tukuran town, around 20 kilometers from here at 1:30 a.m..

Representative Yu said she received a phone call from Relacion on Sept. 21, or four days after the explosion, telling her of Panal’s hand in the planning. Yu claimed that Relacion also admitted that they were the targets.

The Congresswoman said she was alarmed by the revelation.

“The governor and I were alarmed. We kept following up the investigation. It’s alarming if a certain mayor thinks that way,” she said.

Rep. Yu said that based on the investigation, the bomb explosion had the capacity to damage structures and people within up to 100-meter radius. “So if what Mayor Relacion said through our phone conversation was true, many people would have been included since it was the province’s anniversary celebration,” she said.

She asked the ATC to declare the two mayors “terrorists” to prevent such an incident from happening again.

Yu said she would deliver a privilege speech in Congress on Monday, December 9, to call on the Anti Terrorism Council to declare the two mayors as terrorists.

PNP officials, however, still refused to make a comment as the case was still being investigated.

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According to Rep. Yu, the case had been given special attention by the PNP after the couple talked to PNP chief Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil. But the case to be filed by the prosecutors would be different from the one filed at the ATC levelnaga casino, she said.

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