Millions attend Mass at Rizal Park on January 18, 2015
Plans to detonate a bomb as the papal convoy drove through Manila on January 18 were foiled when police discovered the plot and secretly re-routed the pope’s motorcade.
Breitbart is reporting that former Special Action Force (SAF) commander Getulio Napeñas testified before the Philippine senate on Monday about a plan by the Al Qaeda linked group, Jemaah Islamiyah, to set off a bomb near the papal convoy as it traveled down Kalaw Street en route to the Mass at Rizal Park on January 18. Nearly seven million people attended this event and the carnage would have been horrific if the plot had succeeded.
“Just recently,” Napenas said, “during Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines, we have information that Jemaah Islamiyah, in coordination with Marwan [aka Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir], had planned to construct a bomb to be detonated as the papal convoy drove down T.M. Kalaw Street in Manila on January 18, 2015. These reports were not confirmed neither admitted nor denied by the PNP [Philippine National Police]. The fact, however, remains that there exists this information.”
Even though the information was unconfirmed, “Just the same planning adjustments were made in consideration of this and to ensure protection of the Pope,” said Military spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla Jr.
Just in case, the Philippine government also decided to ask telecommunication companies Globe and Smart to weaken or block cellphone signals over Metro Manila during the Pope’s visit. Although the move was a great inconvenience to the more than 12 million people who live in and around Manila, it was definitely worth it to spare the life of the Pope and perhaps hundreds more people who might have been killed or injured had a plot of this kind succeeded.
Marwan, the mastermind behind the alleged scheme, was a well-known supplier of bombs for various terrorist groups and was considered one of the most notorious bomb experts in the world. Known as the “bin Laden of Southeast Asia” he became the FBI’s most wanted terrorist after bin Laden was killed.
However, according to Napenas, Marwan was “neutralized” on January 25 during a special forces operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in which the terrorist was killed. The operation cost the lives of 44 of the country’s most elite policemen who died while engaged in a gunfight with members of radical Islamist terrorists who were holding camp in the area.
As shocking as this information is, the press has almost entirely ignored the story.
“The absence of media coverage of this assassination attempt on the pope is startling,” notes Catholic League president Bill Donohue.
The incident also underlines the fact that “the curse of radical Islam is a worldwide evil that must be destroyed,” he said.
UPDATE: The Vatican has just issued a statement saying reports of this assassination attempt – which were never confirmed – are now considered to have been “unreliable”. We can only applaud the Filipino government for taking precautionary steps to protect the pope – just in case!
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