The President said the reward, which will be sourced from the contingency and intelligence fund of his office, will be increased as deemed necessary.

“I did order a provision of a million-peso reward of information leading to the arrest of and prosecution of all the suspects involving this case and we will increase that as necessary,” the President said.

The President proposed the reward system during his closed-door meeting with top security officials last Thursday in Malacañang where they scrutinized security measures to protect the people from threats.

At present, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is searching for two male passengers who may have knowledge about the bomb that killed five passengers inside a bus last Tuesday. But the police have yet to identify a particular group that was possibly behind the bus attack.

Composite computer-generated sketches of the two “persons of interest” were presented by National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Nicanor Bartolome in a press conference in the Palace. The sketches of the two passengers were based on the description of witnesses.

Bartolome said these two passengers boarded the Newman Goldline bus at the Heritage Hotel, paid fare until Ayala Avenue, Makati City but disembarked before their destination.

‘Persons of interest’

“They were seated at the sixth row where the bomb was positioned. We are looking for them because they may be able to contribute to the solution of the case. They are not yet considered as suspects but persons of interest,” he said.

Many law enforcement officials refer to a “person of interest” as an individual involved in their investigation but has not been formally charged with the crime as they are not yet sure if he is involved.

Bartolome said the release of the sketches of the suspects showed the police are now halfway through the investigation of the bus explosion in Makati. “The investigation will be tedious but we will do our job properly and not haphazardly,” Bartolome said in Filipino.

The President meantime said he has ordered authorities to reinforce security measures in potential areas of concern or considered soft targets to prevent a repeat of the attack.

Apart from deploying at least 300 bus marshals, he said the government will also tap “force multipliers” such as security guards in private companies and barangay officials to augment government efforts in the campaign against terrorism.

These force multipliers will be mobilized “to provide us a very thorough monitoring arm for the government in our fight against people who will seek to terrorize our citizenry,” he said.

Genalyn Kabiling, Manila Bulletin