Duterte inspects Jolo cathedral, visits kin of victims

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday visited Jolo in Sulu to inspect the site of the deadly explosions that tore through a Roman Catholic cathedral on Sunday.

Duterte was accompanied by top security officials and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, during the visit to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral, according to photos released by former Special Assistant to the President Christopher "Bong" Go.

LOOK: President Duterte visited Sulu on Monday following the cathedral bombing in Jolo that killed 20 people on Sunday. ????: Bong Go @gmanews pic.twitter.com/3db9AR9gKV

— Virgil Lopez (@virgillopez) January 28, 2019

Duterte also visited the victims of the twin blasts, which killed at least 20 people and injured scores more.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said earlier in the day that Duterte was angered and disappointed by the incident.

"He was so angry, for one. For another, he is so disappointed that despite the movement to tread the path towards peace and development, there are still certain forces in that region who sow terror and kill and murder people," Panelo told reporters.

The attacks, claimed by the Islamic State but blamed on the Abu Sayyaf Group by the Philippine military, occurred days after the conduct of the plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which seeks to grant wider autonomy to Muslims in strife-torn Mindanao.

Panelo withheld comment on whether the bombings were in connection to the BOL, saying Duterte will wait for the results of the investigation by the authorities. —NB, GMA News