[PHOTO AT LEFT - Swift action. President Aquino listens as blast victim Raissa Laurel of the San Sebastian College of Law recounted what happened last Sunday. Laurel's legs had to be amputated as a result of severe injuries. Aquino has ordered the Manila Police District to resolve the case immediately.]
MANILA, SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 (MALAYA) BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR - PRESIDENT Aquino yesterday visited four of close to 50 victims of the explosion in front of the De La Salle University on Taft avenue last Sunday, the last day of the Bar examinations.
He also urged those responsible for the blast to surrender and face the consequences of their actions as he ordered the NBI and the Manila Police District to prioritize the case.
"Pine-personal ko ang pagkamit ng katarungan para sa kanila (victims)…Sa mga salarin ng krimeng ito: ang buong pwersa ng estado ay gagamitin namin laban sa inyo. Huwag ninyo ng hintayin na mahuli pa kayo. Huwag niyong pabigatin ang inyong sitwasyon. Sumuko na kayo," he said.
Aquino, at the Philippine General Hospital, talked with San Sebastian College law student Raissa Laurel who suffered the most severe injury. Laurel's legs were amputated.
He also visited Joanna Katrina Ledda, Camille Villasin and Glays Mique at the Manila Doctors Hospital.
"Lubos ang aking paghanga sa ipinakita nilang katapangan sa gitna ng isang matinding trahedya na hindi dapat nararanasan ng sinuman," he said.
"Isa itong karumal-dumal na krimen lalo na't ang mga nabiktima ay mga kababaihan at mga kabataan, dalawang sektor ng ating lipunan na dapat pangalagaan. Hangad lamang nilang paghandaan ng mabuti ang kanilang kinabukasan at hindi ang kasakit sa kapwa," he added.
The President talked with Laurel for about 20 minutes. He told her of his experience when he was shot in 1987 during one of the coup attempts against his mother, then president Corazon Aquino.
Aquino extended his sympathies to the victims.
He ordered the Presidential Management Staff to extend all possible assistance to the victims and their families.
The NBI invited for questioning officials of the fraternity Alpha Kappa Rho (Akrho) to shed light on allegations that the group was responsible for the blast in front of the De La Salle University last Sunday, the last day of the 2010 Bar exams.
Close to 50 law students and barristers were injured in the explosion.
Jojo del Rosario, president of the Grand Council of Akrho, submitted his sworn statement to the NBI Counter-Terrorism Division, mostly in defense of Jed Carlo Lazaga, a fourth year law student of the Cebu-based University of San Jose Recoletos School of Law.
Del Rosario said Lazaga is a legitimate member of Akhro.
He said Lazaga, who was mauled after the blast, is a victim and should not be considered a criminal and tagged as the one who threw the explosive.
"Bakit pa siya (Lazaga) magrereklamo sa pulis kung may kasalanan siya? Nawalan pa nga siya ng wallet, nabugbog pa," said Del Rosario.
Richard Buscayno, president Akhro-Cebu chapter, said Lazaga joined the operations to support schoolmates who took the Bar. He said he did not even join fellow Akhro members before the blast.
The group showed pictures of Lazaga together with at least 20 law students and professors of the university. The pictures also showed that he was wearing a white shirt with graphic design. A witness has said the grenade-thrower was wearing a shirt marked with the fraternity name.
Witnesses earlier said the man who threw the explosive was wearing a black jacket with an "Akhro Fraternity" print on it and a baseball cap, with his face covered by a handkerchief.
The NBI and the Manila Police District earlier said the explosion devices used was an MK2 fragmentation grenade.
Lazaga's schoolmates said Lazaga was with their contingent at the time of the blast. After the commotion, Lazaga left to check on the bus that they were to take on their way back to their hotel.
Buscayno said they were surprised to learn that Lazaga had been brought to the precinct and that their fraternity was being tagged as behind the blast.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court issued a memorandum order creating an eight-man panel to investigate the incident and to recommend sanctions for filing of charges against those found criminally, civilly and administratively liable.
Chief Justice Renato Corona appointed Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr. to head the investigating committee, and Associate Justice Jose Catral-Mendoza as vice chairman.
The committee was given until October 15 to wrap up its investigation and submit its report to the high court. The investigating panel will begin its probe today.
Other members of the committee are Maria Cristina Layusa, SC deputy clerk of court and Bar confidant; Constantino Joson, NBI regional director in Metro Manila; Perry Pe, chairman of the Philippine Association of Law Schools and Dean of Palawan State University; Supt. Francisco Gabriel, head of the Manila Police District's Special Investigation Task Group; Maj. Eduardo Escala, chief of the SC security division; and Charlotte Silungan, vice president for Association of Law Students of the Philippines-NCR.
The panel will also propose measures to prevent the occurrence of similar violent incidents and recommend an improved security protocol for future Bar examinations.
Court spokesman and administrator Jose Midas Marquez said the SC probe will not overlap with the investigations already being conducted by the NBI and MPD, but their reports will be considered by the panel in coming out with its recommendations.
He said those responsible could face charges ranging from multiple counts of frustrated homicide to multiple serious physical injuries, aside from administrative sanctions which include expulsion from their respective law schools and being barred from taking the Bar. – With Evangeline de Vera
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