Senators lead inspection of Glorietta blast site

Three senators on Thursday morning visited the Glorietta Mall in Makati City to conduct a joint ocular inspection of the site where a deadly explosion took place on October 19 last year. Radio dzBB reported that Senators Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, Rodolfo Biazon, and Pia Cayetano conducted the inspection to look into the possibility of a "cover-up" in the investigation into the explosion that killed 11 people and injured 112 others. The Senate had started an investigation on the blast "in aid of legislation." Honasan chairs the Senate committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs, Biazon heads the committee on National Defense and Security while Cayetano is a member of both Senate committees. Both Honasan and Biazon are former military officers. Admitting their lack of expertise in the field of ordnance and other explosive devices, the three senators said they will be forming a technical working group composed either of local and foreign experts to help the senators consolidate information they will be able to gather. The lawmakers also said they will be coming up with their own report on the blast even as they will be holding a media briefing later in the day to share their initial observations about the blast site. The three senators were escorted by officials from the Philippine National Police (PNP) including Chief Superintendent Luizo Ticman, Southern Police District director; and Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, chief of the Makati City police. The radio report added that Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus also showed up for the inspection. It added that the government officials - donning hard hats - descended to the mall's basement to inspect its sump pit, where methane gas from septic waste allegedly accumulated. Officials from the Ayala Land Inc., owner of the Glorietta malls, also joined the senators to point out their theory that the blast was caused not by a gas explosion, as claimed by police authorities. In its final report on the blast, the PNP said the blast was due to a gas explosion. Engineers and other mall officials had consequently been charged before the Justice Department in connection with the incident. The ALI, on the other hand, had been firm that the explosion was triggered by a bomb, as discovered by foreign ordnance experts that it hired to conduct a separate investigation from that of the police. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV