April 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, NBI arrests suspect in Ozamiz ferry bombing, by Jose Aravilla,

April 15, 2000, The Philippine Star, NBI arrests suspect in Ozamiz ferry bombing, by Jose Aravilla,

The National Bureau of Investigation has finally captured the prime suspect in the bombing of three Super 5 buses on board a ferry in Ozamiz City that killed 37 persons two months ago.

Revenge was behind the bombing, the NBI declared as it presented to media the prime suspect, Allan Saumay, 48, who was arrested Wednesday.

Saumay, a former Moro National Liberation Front commander, was reportedly seeking to avenge the death of fellow MNLF commander Tamano Tomarompong, who was killed after emerging from a Super 5 bus terminal in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte.

The Tomarompongs, of which Saumay was related, suspected that the bus company had a hand in the killing and had since conducted a number of revenge attacks against Super 5.

The revenge attacks included the hijacking and kidnapping of bus passengers in Iligan City on Jan. 26. The hijackers burned the bus after interrogating the bus personnel on the death of Tomarompong.

Saumay was positively identified by witnesses as the man who left bags inside the buses while they were being ferried from Iligan City to Ozamiz City. The bags were believed to have contained the bombs.

Aside from the suspected killing of Tomarompong and the subsequent revenge that claimed 37 lives, two more lives were lost in separate indiscriminate retaliatory attacks by relatives of the ferry bomb victims.

The killing of Tomarompong was reportedly prompted by the carnapping of a tricycle owned by a close ally of the Kuratong Baleleng. The former MNLF commander also reportedly killed the tricycle owner.

The Ozamiz City police, accompanied by Kuratong members, later raided the house of Tomarompong, but only the sidecar of the tricycle was recovered.

Tomarompong was reportedly abducted while going out of the Super 5 bus terminal in Iligan City on board the detached motorcycle of the stolen tricycle.