Malacañang said yesterday that the public has no reason to be alarmed despite the two explosions that rocked Leyte and North Cotabato Wednesday.
“It’s an area of concern but not alarming,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a press briefing in Malacañang.
Abella said the people should not be alarmed as no groups have actually claimed the bombings. “So we cannot pinpoint any specific area or person responsible,” he said.
The Palace official downplayed speculations that the two bombings might lead to the declaration of Martial Law by President Duterte.
“These are not indicators at that context of being set up for, let’s say, declaration of Martial Law,” he said.
Abella said that Hilongos is not area that has been the subject to threats like bombings.
He said authorities are investigating the twin bombings which happened five days after unidentified persons threw a hand grenade near the Santo Nino Parish Church that injured scores of churchgoers in Midsayap, North Cotabato.
The Leyte bombing happened at around 9 p.m. at the town plaza of Hilongos while about 500 people were watching an amateur boxing match as part of the town fiesta activities.
Thirty persons were injured in the explosion.
An hour later, an improvised explosive device went off beside the national highway in Barangay Bagangan, Aleosan, North Cotabato, injuring six persons on board a 10-wheel truck.
Leyte police provincial director Supt. Franco Simborio believed that the Leyte bombing could be an act of retaliation from an arrested drug suspect. (PNA)