CIDG files charges vs bombing suspects in CDO

The improvised explosive device (IED) reportedly armed with an 81 millimeter mortarexploded outside the “Kyla’s Bistro” at Rosario Arcade killing six people and wounding 46 others as participants in the mid-year convention of doctors and medical professionals were partying.

Two other critically wounded victims later died in local hospitals here bringing the death toll to eight in one of the worst bombing incidents in the port capital of Cagayan de Oro in recent years.

City Councilor Ramon Tabor, chair of the city’s committee on police, security, and public safety, said that the combined elements of the military and police in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the CIDG pooled resources together into an investigative task force.

He said that Task Force Rosario Arcade became the leading investigative body that formed a dragnet to identify, arrest, and charge the suspects in court.

According to Tabor, some of the witnesses even collapsed when the law enforcers presented the suspect to them for possible identification.

He said that most of the witnesses were survivors of the tragic incident. “We cannot discount the possibility that some witnesses continue to bear the traumatic experience,” Tabor added.

Tabor said that the military and police had identified the suspects few days after the incident since the file photo of the suspect and the computer generated image identically matched.

Prosecutor Macauyag said cases filed were not bailable and that the prosecution would conduct a preliminary investigation of the case as soon as possible.