Duterte’s peace adviser calls for calm amid attacks on cathedral, mosque

President Rodrigo Duterte's adviser on the peace process on Wednesday called for sobriety amid the two terrorist attacks that hit Mindanao over the past week.

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the quest for peace should not be set back by the spate of violence in southern Philippines.

"We therefore call on everyone to remain calm and refrain from issuing statements that would fuel discord and animosity among our people," Galvez said.

"Now is the time for us to unite and show that such dastardly deeds do not have a place in a humane and peaceful society," he added.

The bombing of the Jolo Cathedral on Sunday killed at least 22 persons and hurt almost 100.

On Wednesday early morning, two persons were killed and four others were injured when a grenade exploded at a mosque in Zamboanga City.

"We have gone a long way in our quest for peace," Galvez said.

"This latest incident should not dishearten us from pursuing this collective goal, and should in fact embolden us to further strengthen our resolve to finally put an end to the armed conflict in Mindanao," he added.

A landmine-initiated ambush also killed a policeman and injured three others in Magpet, North Cotabato on Monday.

The Magpet attack was blamed on the New People's Army.

The explosions at the cathedral and the mosque happened days after the first round of plebiscite in connection with the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The Bangsamoro Organic Law that provides for the new and more powerful autonomous entity was the centerpiece of the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front signed under the Aquino administration. —NB, GMA News