Malacañang vowed to unleash the whole might of government forces against the “mass murderers” behind the bombing of a mosque in Zamboanga City Wednesday.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo condemned the incident, saying terrorists reared their “barbaric and ugly head” by unleashing another bomb, this time in a mosque in Zamboanga City.
Two persons were killed while four others were injured in the incident.
“This latest act of murder apart from the terrorists sowing terror in the Mindanao region, coming as it does in the wake of the Jolo dastardly bombing, is a taunting challenge to the capability of the government to secure the safety of the inhabitants in Mindanao,” Panelo said.
“The successive attacks on two different places of worship depict the ruthlessness and the godlessness of these mass murderers,” he added.
The Palace official said that government forces will aggressively hunt down those responsible for the two bombings which rocked Mindanao days after the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines will unleash its might and weaponry against these enemies of the state and hunt them ferociously and relentlessly until the law rolls down its guillotine on them,” Panelo said.
Panelo assured that the road to peace in Mindanao will not be derailed despite the two bombings. He said Malacañang will give whatever support the people in Mindanao may need.
“The quest for peace and progress by the Bangsamoro people will not be stalled by any obstacle thrown at their path. The movement to change the face of Mindanao and the oppressive conditions affecting its people shall move forward despite these acts of terrorism,” he said.
“We assure those who live and sojourn in that part of the region that the government will secure their safety and provide them with whatever support they need with dispatch and sufficiency,” he added.
Panelo asked the people in the South to be vigilant and report to authorities of any events that may require their intervention.
“The Mindanao citizenry will not be cowed nor intimidated even as they go about their daily activities while at the same time remaining vigilant and alert on any noticeable abnormality in their surrounding and immediately providing the authorities with the information that the latter may undertake appropriate measures to prevent the occurrence of any act of deathly violence,” he said. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)