Philstar.com reports that a vintage mortar bomb exploded in the Chris Welding Shop along Daisy street in Barangay Lower Bicutan in Taguig City at around 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, January 25.
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The report cited National Capital Region Police Office chief Alan Purisima, who identified the deceased as PO2 Elizalde Bisaya and PO3 Jose Torralba, both of the Special Action Force-Explosives Ordnance Division (SAF-EOD); welding shop owner Crisanto Daguio and bakery owner Riza Romualdo. (Note: It’s not clear if Romualdo was only a bystander or if she also observed the welding of the vintage bomb.)
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Philstar.com quoted a witness named Bobbyrondo Niuda, who said he saw what happened from the second floor of his house. He had been out in the terrace. He related that "the SAF-EOD team brought the ammunition to said the team first used a pipe wrench then a welder to defuse the bomb."
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Niuda said: "Alam kong mali ’yun. Gusto ko man sumigaw para sabihin sa kanila na mali ang ginagawa nila, hindi ko nagawa kasi akala ko naman alam nila ang ginagawa nila. Naka-uniporme sila kaya nakakahiya naman kung sasabihin kong mali sila (I knew it was wrong. I wanted to shout to tell them this but I didn’t. I thought they knew what they were doing. They were wearing uniforms and I found it embarrassing to correct them)." Niuda explained that he had undergone bomb [detection] training while working for a security agency.
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Meanwhile, the report revealed that Philippine National Police chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome has ordered an investigation of the accident. They also quoted senior superintendent Tomas Apolinario, head of the Taguig police, who said, "There is a lapse here. They should not have defused it using a welder."
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The report did not indicate how or where the policemen had found the bomb. It also didn’t explain why they thought the bomb could be defused through welding.
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For more on this story, log on to Philstar.com.
