By Froilan Gallardo
Special Correspondent

THE military said they found and seized 1,026 pieces of industrial-grade dynamite in Bukidnon that pack enough explosive energy to blow up an entire municipal hall building.

Maj. Francis Garello Jr., spokesperson of the 4th Infantry Division said the Army and the Philippine National Police have started an investigation to find out where the rebels were able to get hold of the dynamites.

“We are very alarmed by the quantity of the explosives we found. It is enough to kill every human being within a 100-meter blast radius or demolish a municipal building,” Garello said.

Garello said a certain Ronald Landasan, a New People Army rebel who surrendered to the Army, lead authorities to the explosives hidden in a pit inside a bamboo groove in Sitio Malinao, Barangay Kalasungay, Malaybalay City in Bukidnon province.

Garello said all of the 1,026 pieces tube-sized dynamites with markings of “ Superpower 90” were made by leading Indian explosives and defense manufacturer Solar Industries India Limited.

On their website, Solar Industries India Limited said Superpower 90 is “ a cap sensitive emulsion explosives “ designed for “tunnel blasting and all kinds of underground and above-ground operations.

Solar Industries Limited said Superpower 90 “does not contain dangerous explosive chemicals such as TNT and nitroglycerine in its chemical composition.”

Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Barandon, commander of the 403rd Infantry Brigade said it is unlikely that the rebels smuggled the explosives from India.

“We believed the dynamites were either pilfered or stolen from construction companies operating in Bukidnon and nearby provinces,” Barandon said.

“We want to know why they did not report the thief to the authorities,” he said.

Barandon said the theft of a huge quantity of explosives is enough to warrant a full-scale investigation.

He said Landasan, the former rebel, told them he had no knowledge where the NPA rebels got hold of the explosives.

NPA rebels have been using command-detonated landmines during the 30-year-old insurgency war, the longest in Asia.

Army explosive experts blew up 77 improvised explosive devices they seized from the rebels in Barangay Tignapoloan, Cagayan de Oro last week.

Lt. Col. Vladimir DC Santa Maria said the explosives were captured from several encounters with the NPA rebels for the past four months.