DoRAtheExplorer:))

Police have connected the explosion which wounded 44 people along Taft Avenue to a conflict between two rival fraternities.
The explosion went off near the De La Salle University (DLSU) campus as the traditional Salubong festivities were underway to celebrate the end of the month-long bar exams. The police have ruled out terrorism as the reason behind the attack.
Manila Police District (MPD) officer-in-charge Chief Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla told reporters on Monday that the explosive was launched towards a gathering of Tau Gamma Phi fraternity members, but fell short and landed among a group of San Beda College law students, mostly from the Alpha Phi Beta fraternity and sorority.
“[According to] unofficial information [I received], there is a sketch account of a male person wearing a t-shirt with Greek letter emblem ‘AKRHO’ who then threw the suspected bomb at [the] Tau Gamma fraternity,” said Rongavilla.

However he added that this information was only “something to start on.”
“While it is true that a member of the fraternity (AKRHO) may be a suspect, it is also possible that the bomber only wore the shirt to mislead investigators,” he said.
He added that the kind of explosive has yet to be determined.
“Theoretically, we really thought it was a pillbox,” he said. “On the other hand, we also thought it was a Molotov bomb. It could also be a grenade. This will be revealed later.”
“We have to wait for the results of the chemical analysis of the Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO). We cannot make a conclusion without the result of the chemical analysis on the fragments recovered at the site,” said Chief Inspector Oliver Navales, the head of the MPD Explosives and Ordnance Division (EOD).
“Last night, we gave instructions [to the police] to coordinate with the hospitals,” Rongavilla added. “That if there’s shrapnel found in the victims, it should be preserved [for analysis].”

Victims
The blast wounded 44 people, two of whom had to have limbs amputated.
Raissa Laurel of San Sebastian College, who is currently recovering at the Philippine General Hospital’s (PGH) intensive care unit, had both legs removed due to damage from the blast.
According to Laurel, an explosive device placed inside a small box had gone off right in front of her. She did not know who had thrown the box towards the place she was standing.
Another unnamed victim at the Manila Doctors’ Hospital (MDH) has had to have her left leg amputated. Doctors are currently working to save her right leg and left hand.

Outrage over explosion
The attack has been condemned by Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.
"The Chief Justice sympathizes with the victims of the explosion and has directed Court Officials to attend to the victims' medical needs," said a statement from the Supreme Court.
Corona has also called on police "to identify the perpetrators of this senseless act of cowardice, and bring them to the bar of justice."
Observers on the Internet have also expressed their outrage over the blast.
“There is no justification for lobbing an explosive into a densely packed crowd of people who are oblivious to everything but cheering for their friends, schoolmates, family and loved ones. Absolutely none,” said University of the Philippines (UP) vice-president for legal affairs Ted Te in a Facebook post, adding that he would not believe that “one who would throw an explosive into a crowd did not deliberately plan to kill other people.”



“It was an act done with malice, with premeditation, intentionally with the purpose of inflicting mortal harm,” Te said, opining that the fraternities involved should take the initiative to surrender the ones responsible for the blast, "[o]therwise, they reduce ALL greek lettered societies, many of them legitimate, to nothing better than street gangs and organized criminal syndicates."
Te also called for the Supreme Court and the Universities and Colleges to "take steps to ensure stricter regulation... on pain of stringent sanctions including expulsion and criminal prosecution, if warranted,” but not total prohibition, "as the fraternities will simply go underground and be totally unchecked."

Move bar venue
Other groups have called for the bar exams to be moved to a new venue next year, due to security concerns.
In a letter to Corona, Volunteers against Crime and Corruption (VACC) Chairman Dante Jimenez said that the bar exams should be moved to a venue which would “offer more conducive ambiance for such a serious academic undertaking.”
“Near the DLSU campus, several beer joints, discos and other fun establishments operate where fraternity groups and student gangs congregate. This may aggravate the threat of disorder during the Bar exams that may foment even worse violence,” he said.
“It is not far-fetched that a similar kind of violence may again occur if no proper measures are put in place,” he added.

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