Bishop appeals for peace after twin blasts in Basilan

A Catholic bishop appealed for peace and condemned the recent twin explosions that rocked Isabela City, Basilan on Monday evening.

In a statement on Tuesday, Bishop Prelate Leo Dalmao of the Prelature of Isabela in Basilan said the incident “shook the city residents with fear after relatively many years of living and enjoying peace.”

Dalmao asked the public to continue supporting all efforts to live in a “peaceful environment and work together to sustain peace.”

The bishop said that the province is moving forward on its development economically, socially, and politically.

“The peaceful atmosphere has encouraged businesses to grow and people to live in harmony with each one regardless of faith and culture. We are instead challenged to take active role in the promotion of peace, development, and human fraternity,” Dalmao said.

“Engaging, otherwise to what is unpeaceful can again revive what Basilan has been in the previous years,” he added.

He then called those who are responsible to stop and instead join the government, civil, and religious leaders in “pursuing peace and development for all people.”

Based on the police report, the first blast occurred near a fast-food outlet in Barangay Isabela Proper at around 5:45 p.m.

While the explosive ordnance division of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was conducting an initial assessment and investigation into the explosion, another blast occurred at around 6:15 p.m. at a bus garage in Barangay La Piedad, about 800 meters away.

One person was hurt in the second explosion and "was immediately brought to Basilan General Hospital," the report said.

The PNP across the country has been placed on full alert following a series of bombing incidents in Mindanao, its Officer-in-Charge Police Lieutenant General Vicente Danao said on Wednesday.

On May 26, one person was hurt in an explosion inside a bus in Koronadal City in South Cotabato.

Another explosion was reported at a vacant lot in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat on the same day. —Richa Noriega/KG, GMA News