Andanar: There’s a chance Sulu blasts linked to BOL ratification

There's a chance the deadly blasts in the Sulu province on Sunday morning are linked to the recent ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), according to Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar.

"The timing is very suspect na just after na na-ratify eh mayroon kaagad na pambobomba na naganap sa simbahan pa, sa cathedral pa," Andanar said in an interview on Super Radyo DZBB on Sunday.

"Mayroon pong chance, there’s the possibility, pero tinitingnan natin lahat ng anggulo dito," Andanar also said in a separate interview on dzMM.

His remarks come after twin blasts hit the Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo in Sulu, killing at least 19 individuals.

The explosions happened after the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) was ratified, with overwhelming votes coming from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Officials have been cautious, however, about linking the blasts to the results of the BOL plebiscite. Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman dismissed the possibility, while Armed Forces chief Benjamin Madrigal said that investigators are still looking into it.

"Number two ginawa sa loob ng simbahan, eh walang respeto sa simbahan. Number three eh talagang walang respeto sa ating pamahalaan, sa ating gobyerno kaya madali hong magsuspetsa na baka nga eh posibleng connected ito sa ratification ng Bangsamoro Organic Law, but hopefully hindi," Andanar added in the DZBB interview.

Andanar also said that security has to be tightened at checkpoints in Mindanao, where martial law is enforced.

"[K]ailangan talagang higpitan pa iyong mga checkpoints, number one, at iyong area na mayroong mga alert level 3 eh kailangan seryosohin talaga natin lahat. Hindi naman kasi ito kaya ng otoridad lamang, kailangan makipag-cooperate talaga iyong mamamayan kapag may nakitang suspicious eh kailangan i-report kaagad," he said.

Asked if the blasts might result in security raised in other areas of the country, including the Visayas and Metro Manila, he said on DZMM, "Tingnan natin kung ano ang magiging desisyon ng security cluster ng Cabinet; by tomorrow we should already have decisions coming from the cluster itself."

The BOL replaces the ARMM with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region governed by the Bangsamoro Parliament elected by the Bangsamoro Region’s inhabitants.

In addition, the BOL also grants the Bangsamoro Region five percent of the net national internal revenue collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs as block grant, on top of at least P5 billion worth of Special Development Fund for the Bangsamoro Region every year for the next 10 years, starting 2019. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News