Pope seeks prayers for victims, bombers’ conversion

By LITO RULONA,
JOEY NACALABAN
Correspondents
with FROILAN GALLARDO
Special Correspondent . 

POPE Francis has called for prayers for the victims of Sunday’s bomb attacks in Jolo, Sulu even as he expressed his wish that those behind the bombings be converted.

The Pope stated in a Twitter message: “Let us pray for the victims of the terrorist attacks on the Cathedral of Jolo in the Philippines. May the Lord, Prince of Peace, convert the hearts of the violent and grant the inhabitants of that region a peaceful coexistence.”

Pope Francis’s message came even as governments around the world condemned the bomb attacks at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo that happened days after Sulu rejected the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao during a plebiscite on Monday.

The United Kingdom, for one, warned its citizens from traveling to Mindanao hours after Sunday’s bombings. The UK advisory however does not cover Mindanao’s Camiguin, Dinagat and Siargao islands. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office included in the travel warning the vacation towns of Dalaguete and Badian in Cebu.

As sympathies and expressions of solidarity poured from the international community, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) assured the foreign community that the Philippines would bring to justice those responsible for the twin bombings.

“Those responsible for this crime will not go unpunished. We will find them and bring them to justice,” Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato said in a statement.

“We are thankful for the many expressions of sympathy and solidarity from the international community,” Cato said.

National and local officials also decried the bomb attacks.

Vice President Leni Robredo, who was in the city on Sunday, called on the Duterte administration to work in preventing a repeat of the bomb attacks.

“Nakakalungkot na sa panahon na umaasa tayo na matutuldukan na ang lahat ng kaguluhan dito sa Mindanao, mangyayari ulit ito. Sana ’yong eleksyon na nangyari noong Jan. 21 tsaka ’yong eleksyon na mangyayari sa Feb. 6, magiging mahalagang hakbang para makamtan na natin ’yong kapayapaan,” Robredo told reporters at the Laguindingan Airport.

Robredo also called on authorities to exert more effort in order to identify the people responsible for the bombings so that they could be brought to justice, and so that others would not be emboldened to carry out similar attacks.

Former president and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was also in the city on Sunday, called the Jolo bombings “tragic.”

“I’m anxious to go back to Manila now so we can find out if there’s anything that Congress should do from our end. To the people of Jolo, please do not lose heart. I’m sure that the government will do everything to make things right,” Arroyo said.

Mayor Oscar Moreno said city hall was closely coordinating security measures with the police even as he urged residents to be watchful always and help authorities by providing them useful information, including suspicious activities. He strongly condemned the Jolo bombings.

Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano, for his part, expressed dismay, saying that the bomb attacks were senseless.

He said any group can express their grievances without wasting innocent lives and destroying properties.

Emano called the bombers “not humans but beasts.”

“They should be identified and arrested so justice for the victims will be served,” Emano said.

Misamis Oriental Vice Gov. Jose Mari Pelaez, meanwhile, issued this statement of condemnation.

He said, “We cannot help but suspect that this is connected to the recent rejection of the BOL by the people of Sulu, which we hope is a not true.”

Pelaez said authorities should find and catch the perpetrators of the “heinous crime.”

Pelaez said, “Let this not be another unsolved bombing. Show that martial law in Mindanao is working to protect its people.

“We encourage everyone to cooperate and to be vigilant. We pray for the victims and their families. May they find peace and comfort in Him above.”

Abdul Nasir Masorong, regional director of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, called the Jolo bombings as an “un-Islamic barbaric act.”

“Muslims, Cagayanons, indigenous groups, Christians and the lumad must unite and fight these atricities,” said Masorong, adding that everyone deserves to be treated with “respect, compassion and kindness.” (with reports from PNA)