PRESIDENT Duterte has announced Tuesday that the church attack in Jolo was a case of suicide bombing carried out by the Abu Sayyaf Group.
Citing intelligence information obtained from security authorities, the President said a suspected husband and wife were involved in the deadly suicide attacks at the Jolo cathedral that left several people dead.
“Yes we are sure of that. Walang iba. Nobody but nobody can perpetrate that kind of terrorism thereabout sa lugar,” Duterte said in a press conference during his visit to Malabon about the involvement of the Abu Sayyaf group in the twin blasts in Jolo last Sunday.
“I have no doubt. That is what the military told me, that’s what the police relayed to me. and i am guided by what the government workers would tell me,” he added.
Duterte revealed that a woman wearing a cross slipped past the security cordon and blew herself inside the Jolo cathedral. He noted that it was “not the norm” in the country to frisk a woman going to church.
Another suicide bomber believed to be the husband, on the other hand, launched the attack outside the church, according to the President.
“Yes. Babae. Lalaki ‘yung isa. Mag-asawa,” Duterte said about the suicide bombers.
“Ang problema, iyan ang… Kasi ‘yung babae, almost wearing a cross pa. malaki ang cross sa dibdib niya so who would ever think,” he said.
“The other bomber was outside. There was no reason for him to be frisked. Either he was just passing by before blowing himself up,” he added.
Asked if the bombers were Filipinos or foreigners, Duterte said there were still conflicting reports about the nationality.
“They said that it’s Indonesian. Others say from the looks of it, it was — wala kang makita. No part of the body… Sumabog eh. Kasi terrorism talaga iyan saka suicide iyan unless nilagay doon,” he said.
The President said he has already directed the military to destroy the Abu Sayyaf group following the terror attacks in Jolo, Sulu that claimed the lives of 20 people.
Duterte, who was outraged by the Jolo blasts, told the troops to “look and arrest for the killers, go into a punitive action.”
“It’s always a touch and go for us. We go there, we fight and look for the enemies of the state,” he said.
He said there was no security lapse but admitted there was “failure in governance” due to the deaths of people from the Jolo blast.
He said he previously received intelligence information about the lingering terror threat in the area that prompted him to deploy an entire military division to Jolo last month. (Genalyn Kabiling)
