(UPDATE) Explosion rocks Yuchengco building in Makati

A powerful explosion ripped the Grepalife building of the Yuchengco family, owner of embattled insurance firm Pacific Plans Inc. (PPI), in a predawn attack Tuesday in Makati City, GMANews.TV learned. Damage was reported on the ground floor of the building, which houses offices for the PPI's parent company Great Pacific Life Assurance Corp. (Grepalife) and its subsidiary Lifetime Plans. No casualties were immediately reported. Glass shards and broken tiles littered the pavement in front of the Grepalife building at 221 Gil Puyat Ave. Police said the explosion happened at around 3 a.m. Police said that based on their investigation of the bomb residue, the blast was caused by a pillbox or an improvised explosive device. A crater formed near a telephone junction box. Building guards said they saw a man near the telephone box who walked away when they tried to investigate, reports reaching GMA 7's Unang Balita said. After the man left, one of the guards saw a plastic bag and the guard went back to report to his supervisor. At that point, the bomb exploded. Instead of following standard procedure of setting up a police line, law enforcers placed a long rope to cordon off bystanders from the crime scene. The rope stretched from the building's main lobby to the area where the tiles and glass windows were shattered. Shortly after Pacific Plans went into bankruptcy, plan holders filed syndicated estafa charges against the pre-need firm's officials. Parent-subscribers raised fears that they will be unable to gain money promised by PPI for the education of their children. The Yuchengcos in turn took legal action against Parents Enabling Parents Coalition (PEPC), the organization of the former PPI subscribers, whom they alleged were launching a smear campaign against their family. Counsels for the Yuchengco family have filed a total of 11 libel cases against the PEPC officers before nine different courts. PEPC members, however, cried foul over the alleged legal maneuverings of the Yuchengcos, saying that the plan holders were the ones aggrieved yet they are the ones being sued. Police on Tuesday morning did not rule out the possible link of Tuesday's explosion to the ongoing rift between the Yuchengcos and PEPC. "Alam nating may gulo ang Pacific Plans sa planholders, so posible rin na may kagagawan diyan ang apektado ng Pacific Plans, ang mga planholders," said Chief Supt. Wilfredo Garcia, chief of the Southern Police District. Garcia said it was unlikely that the incident was sparked by terrorist organizations trying to sow fear in the metropolis. "Hindi target ng terrorism ‘yan, hindi terrorism ‘yan, walang intention mag-hurt ng tao, pananakot at gusto lang magbigay ng statement na siguro galit sa Pacific Plans," he said.-GMANews.TV